In the middle of a diarrhea shitstormThe Food and Drug Administration and lettuce supplier Taylor Farms appear to be facing a bitter technical battle.
On July 17, the California-based company issued a voluntary recall on iceberg lettuce sourced from Central Mexico. The recall came after people in at least five states were sickened by cyclosporiasis, a fungal infection that causes explosive diarrhea.
The next day, the FDA he said that it had detected the parasite in a sample of Taylor Farms lettuce that was not part of the original recall. The next day that, the company and the FDA said that the result was a false positive.
“Today, the FDA apologized to us,” Taylor Farms then posted on his X account on July 19.
The FDA did not fully agree with that interpretation, however. On July 20, an agency official told reporters that it had not “officially apologized” to the company. Instead, the official said, “we were mostly giving factual information” about how difficult it is to measure and trace the sources of cyclospora outbreaks.
The agency stressed that the recall — which spans 27 states, and includes some lettuce sold to Taco Bell and Walmart — remains in place. “To clarify, this positive laboratory sample does NOT change the basis of FDA’s ongoing investigation of the outbreak or the extensive epidemiologic data supporting the voluntary recall of Taylor Farms,” was placed on X.
In its July 19 post, Taylor Farms also wrote that the FDA “has not detected a positive product test result for Cyclospora.” Although true, this raises the difficulty involved in accurately measuring parasites.
Most foodborne disease investigators determine the source of outbreaks without product testing. Instead, investigators use epidemiological evidence, such as interviewing people who have tested positive for the virus, to identify commonalities.
Taylor Farms is reportedly involved in how the FDA and CDC have conducted their week-long investigation into the source of the outbreak. A spokesperson told the New York Times that, last week, the company met with White House and FDA officials to discuss what it called “shortcomings” in the government agencies’ response processes. The Times reported that Taylor Farms executives tried to cast doubt on the conclusions of the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the meeting, which took place on July 16, the day before Taylor Farms released its memo.
Taylor Farms did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment.
Since May, thousands of people have contracted cyclosporiasis, as health officials have struggled to determine the source of the outbreak. Authorities in Michigan say they have counted 6,148 cases in that state alone, although experts told WIRED that the number of cases nationwide is more likely than what was reported.
