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The Trump administration has denied colluding with Taylor Farms after federal health officials reported and then retracted that a sample of lettuce from the company had tested positive for cyclospora amid a multistate outbreak of the diarrhea-causing parasite.
The claim comes as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday morning said the nationwide cyclosporiasis outbreak is now “under control” and that the source of the outbreak has been identified and affected products have been removed from the market.
Taylor Fresh Foods Inc., the parent company of Taylor Farms, made a $1 million donation to Make America Great Again Inc. in March 2025, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) reviewed by Newsweek.
That information was highlighted in a post on X from MeidasTouch, a progressive media outlet, along with reporting from The New York Times that said a Taylor Farms spokeswoman confirmed that company executives had met with White House and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials on Thursday to discuss what it viewed as “shortfalls in the FDA’s and CDC’s outbreak response process.” The company has also recently hired former White House official Trent Morse, expanding its influence in Washington.
In a response to the post, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wrote on X on Monday: “This is how the FAKE NEWS works: imply collusion, ignore the facts. Nothing influences our decisions except science and the safety of the American people.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House and Taylor Farms for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours. HHS has been contacted for comment via an online contact form. Newsweek has also contacted Trent Morse via LinkedIn for comment.
It comes as federal and state authorities are investigating a rise in cases of cyclosporiasis, the gastrointestinal illness caused by the parasite, across the country. Questions have been raised about the political affiliations of Taylor Fresh Foods and its CEO, Bruce Taylor, after the FDA briefly reported, then retracted, a positive cyclospora test from a Taylor Farms product over the weekend.
The FDA had said on Friday that its investigation had identified a single supplier, Taylor Farms de Mexico, of shredded iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell locations across five states—Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia—as the source of a cyclospora outbreak in those states. But then on Sunday, the FDA said the result had been a false positive, while Taylor Farms said it had received an apology from the FDA. FDA officials said on Monday there was no official apology.
The FDA said on Monday that while a laboratory test had incorrectly identified a positive result for cyclospora on a sample of lettuce from Taylor Farms, it did not change the basis for the agency’s “ongoing outbreak investigation or the overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall by Taylor Farms.”
FDA Says Focus Remains on Lettuce From Taylor Farms
FDA officials on Monday said the false positive result came from a rapid test used to screen for traces of cyclospora. The sample that initially appeared positive for the parasite came from Taylor Farms but was not part of the company’s lettuce recall.
FDA officials said they felt compelled to alert the public to the finding, but that a subsequent quality control check showed the positive finding was an error and officials notified Taylor Farms of that on Sunday.
But the FDA said it remains focused on lettuce from Taylor Farms as the source of the outbreak.
“FDA’s traceback investigation and the outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms’ locations in central Mexico,” FDA’s acting food chief, Donald Prater, told reporters.
On X, the FDA said it would “continue to work with federal and state partners to investigate this multistate outbreak and ensure products implicated in this outbreak have been removed from the market.”
Taylor Farms CEO Bruce Taylor’s Political Donations Questioned
Questions have been raised on social media about political donations made by Taylor Farms and its CEO, Bruce Taylor, as the company remains at the center of the investigation into the cyclospora outbreak.
According to FEC records, Bruce Taylor has personally donated $400,000 in 2025 and 2026, spread across several Republican-aligned PACs, including $100,000 to NRSC Victory, which is affiliated with the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Taylor also donated $100,000 to the Cornyn Victory Committee, affiliated with Republican Senator John Cornyn, and $5,000 to Texans for a Conservative Majority, among others. He also donated $2,500 to Western Growers Political Action Committee, a bipartisan PAC representing the fresh produce industry.
Taylor Farms Recalls Products
Taylor Farms has recalled 25 shredded lettuce and salad mix products sold under eight different brand codes, which it said were shipped to 27 states between June 29 and July 16 with “best by” dates as late as August 3. The products are used by a number of U.S. food chains and suppliers.
On Monday, Taylor Farms issued a statement to clarify the “significant confusion over outbreak communication.”
The statement said that the company had voluntarily recalled all iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico that was identified as the potential source of the outbreak.
“This recall has been completed with products removed from the marketplace,” it said. “No Taylor Farms branded products are involved in this recall.”
Taylor Farms also said it would not be sourcing iceberg lettuce grown in central Mexico for the rest of the growing season and that it has experts on site to investigate potential sources of contamination. “We are committed to working closely with health officials during this ongoing investigation,” the company said.
What Is Cyclospora?
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that infects food that has come into contact with human feces, most commonly when produce is irrigated or washed with contaminated water. When ingested, the parasite causes intestinal illness marked by “frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Cases of cyclosporiasis have surged in recent months, with more than 30 states reporting cases this year. It has sickened at least 1,645 people in the U.S. and hospitalized 141, according to the CDC. The agency said it is also investigating more than 5,000 additional illnesses that may be linked to the parasite.
But not every illness may have been caused by the same source, and the CDC and FDA are investigating five separate clusters of illnesses, including the one linked to Taylor Farms.
Several states have reported significantly higher case counts than the CDC, including Michigan, which has reported 6,148 cases as of July 20.
The CDC has noted that state data “may include both probable and confirmed cases, which in turn is likely to reflect a higher case count than the CDC surveillance data because initial case reports have not yet been reported to CDC.”
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick, Cristina Diciu, Sam Wilson.
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