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The agency admits a sample was a false positive, but the epidemiological investigation into the multi-state Cyclospora outbreak continues.
The Cyclospora outbreak took a confusing new turn this week.
On Sunday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) retracted a previous finding showing cyclospora contamination in a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico.
The agency held strong, however, in its conclusion that the agricultural processing facility is linked to the multi-state outbreak of cyclosporiasis.
Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal infection caused by a microscopic parasite, known to cause prolonged and even explosive diarrhea, among other gastrointestinal symptoms, according to Johns Hopkins.
“Our food system is constantly changing due to changing preferences, increasing globalization, and changing weather patterns,” Melanie Firestone, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the division of environmental health sciences at University of Minnesota School of Public Health, told Inc. “With Cyclospora, better diagnostic tools and likely the warming climate are contributing to us seeing it more.”
While the source of the current outbreak is unknown, public health officials have linked it to shredded iceberg lettuce found in five different states supplied by Taylor Farms. The FDA, while retracting the false positive test result, is not “walking back” the larger claim, Susan Mayne, former head of the FDA’s center on food safety told The Washington Post.
The FDA directed Inc. to a statement it made on X this afternoon: “To clarify, this false-positive lab sample DOES NOT change the basis for FDA’s ongoing outbreak investigation or the overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall by Taylor Farms.”
Over the weekend, the agency reported to Taylor Farms that a sample of its shredded lettuce tested positive for the infection, but then alerted the facility of the corrective result on Sunday. Taylor Farms has voluntarily recalled its iceberg lettuce.
On a conference call this afternoon, the FDA’s Acting Commissioner Kyle Diamantas said that the FDA, CDC, and other state partners have investigated five different subclusters of the outbreak since the start of the infection’s season in May, three of which are already considered over.
One of the larger clusters, with over 1,600 cases across multiple states, is currently being investigated by the agencies. “For this particular cluster,” Diamantas said, “we have also seen cases of reporting illness as recent as last week, which means it’s imperative for us to take action to ensure contaminated products do not make its way to the market.”
To that end, the FDA and CDC issued an advisory to consumers last week not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce sourced from Mexico at Taco Bell locations in five impacted states: Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia.
The investigation is still underway, Diamantas said, adding that “should we identify any additional impacted commodities, sources, brands, restaurants, or retailers, we will update our advisory on the fda.gov webpage and through our social media channels.”
The test specimen was sourced from the agency’s southern border testing surveillance sampling site. Once the FDA received the result, it reported immediately to Taylor Farms, Donald A. Prater, acting deputy commissioner for food, said in the call.
After the original samples are obtained, they are sent to laboratory personnel who then identify the false positive and a correction is issued. Prater said that false positives like these “are not common.”
“It’s very difficult to detect this parasite in food. Unlike bacteria, this parasite cannot be cultured using conventional laboratory techniques. So it’s extremely difficult to detect. Even in food, even with the highly sensitive methods that we use.”
An FDA official on background said that the agency published its findings without the secondary laboratory check because of how low the parasite’s prevalence is in food.
The agency’s traceback procedures are still finding a convergence between Taylor Farms and the outbreak.
Taylor Farms’ PR nightmare
Once the general public becomes aware of a link between a brand and an illness, it can be difficult to undo the association.
“We only remember the first impression,” Patrick Riccards, EdD, founder and CEO of the Driving Force Institute, told Inc.. “Once an authoritative body like the FDA issues its initial finding, it’s game over. It doesn’t matter if the facts change, a report is retracted, or they got the story wrong. All we will remember is that Taylor Farms lettuce, and by extension Taco Bell, kills.”
Riccards added that the FDA is a government agency, and “most of us don’t expect high quality work from the feds,” adding that “in the absence of non-information, we will embrace any and all info we can get.”
How to keep yourself safe
“The most important thing is to pay attention to outbreak warnings and avoid any produce identified in a recall,” Jose Brandao, PhD, assistant professor and extension food safety specialist in the department of nutrition, dietetics, and food sciences at Utah State University told Inc.
He added that washing your hands, utensils, cutting boards, and kitchen surfaces before and after preparing fruits and vegetables can help curb your chances of contracting the disease. That is in addition to rinsing produce under clean water, scrubbing the rinds of fruits like cucumbers and melons before cutting them, and keeping unwashed produce away from other unwashed items.
The CDC and Taylor Farms did not immediately respond to Inc.’s request for comment, although the company posted a statement addressing the retraction on social media:
This post originally appeared at inc.com.
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