FDA: Taylor Farms Lettuce Was False Positive For Cyclospora

One of the defining traits of a Trump presidency is the mounting crises that reveal just how deeply incompetent the federal government is under Trump’s leadership. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms was the source of a cyclospora outbreak that’s infected thousands. Now the FDA is saying the sample they tested was a false positive. 

So yeah, that’s totally reassuring. 

CBS News reports that the FDA released a statement on Sunday retracting its original finding. “Due to the complexity in detection of Cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts re-reviewed the sample results and have concluded that the finding does not represent true amplification and should be considered a false positive,” the FDA said. The FDA added that it has not found any “confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora.” 

According to the Washington Post, the FDA is still standing by its assertion that Taylor Farms is the primary source of the cyclospora outbreak. The FDA’s website regarding the cyclospora outbreak continues to say “Do not eat recalled iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico.”

“It does not mean they are walking it back,” Susan Mayne, a former head of the FDA’s center on food safety that oversees outbreak investigations, told the Washington Post. “Absence of evidence (of a positive test result) is never evidence of absence.”

If you weren’t aware, over the last few weeks, there’s been an outbreak of cyclosporiasis across several states. Cyclospora is a parasite that attaches to fresh produce, causing intense bouts of diarrhea, nausea, and fatigue when ingested. Thousands of people have been infected with the parasite, with the majority of cases occurring in Michigan. 

A narrative is spreading on social media that the move was made after executives with Taylor Farms met with the White House last week. The whole purpose of that meeting wasn’t to help track the parasite, but to distance the company from the outbreak. 

Don’t you love when companies show a real commitment to accountability?

The FDA retraction has only fueled the growing narrative that the Trump administration is trying to protect Taylor Farms. In its original statement announcing the source of the outbreak, the FDA worded it to make Taco Bell the scapegoat, even though the fast food chain removed lettuce from its stores days before the FDA made its announcement. 

The FDA’s handling of this situation has been abysmal, but considering how the Trump administration handled the COVID-19 pandemic, I really shouldn’t be surprised at their failure to manage yet another public health crisis. 

I can’t ever recall a time when the FDA publicly retracted a finding related to a public health crisis, only days after initially announcing it. They’re either gaslighting the public or genuinely that incompetent. Honestly, both are probably true given how the Trump administration is moving.

Now, I’m not blaming the FDA entirely, because I’m sure there are still some folks there doing the best they can with what they got. The FDA was one of the organizations that saw thousands of employees get laid off last year as part of the DOGE nonsense, with many of the cuts coming as a result of food inspection programs being defunded. 

Crazy how gutting an organization focused on food safety immediately has negative consequences. 

Even with the false positive, Taylor Farms has still moved forward with recalling its iceberg lettuce produced in Mexico from 27 states, including Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Illinois and New Jersey,

“While the FDA traceback is indicating a specific independent farm, which represents less than 1% of the U.S.’s iceberg lettuce supply, as the potential source of the outbreak, we have removed all iceberg lettuce from the region indefinitely,” the company said Friday in a statement.

SEE ALSO:

Taylor Farms Supplied The Lettuce Taco Bell Is Getting Blamed For

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They Are Gaslighting Us: FDA Says Taylor Farms Lettuce Was A False Positive For Cyclospora was originally published on newsone.com