The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Sunday that it made a possible error this week by identifying lettuce from Taylor Farms as positive for cyclosporiasis.
The FDA said it had conducted testing on Friday, but that “due to the complexity of detecting the Cyclospora (parasite)” laboratory experts “re-reviewed the sample results and found that the finding should be considered a false positive.”
Taylor Farms had already ordered supermarkets to recall its packaged iceberg lettuce if contamination was confirmed, as a precaution. The company was grateful that “the FDA has apologized,” and said that “our thoughts are with all the people who have become ill during this outbreak.”
The FDA report comes when that agency, key to public health issues in the United States, has been hit by budget reductions implemented by Donald Trump’s government.
In recent months, the FDA has also seen the resignation of two members of its leadership, Commissioner Marty Makary and vaccine officer Vinay Prasad.
Infections of cyclosporiasis, to which hundreds of cases of explosive diarrhea are attributed, have been on the rise in the United States this last month.
The FDA has been trying to investigate the source of the outbreak. But with the new information, the agency now says that “as of July 19 there are no confirmed positive Cyclospora samples” in the products it has reviewed.
