FDA: Taylor Farms lettuce cyclospora finding was false positive

Healthcare FDA: Taylor Farms lettuce cyclospora finding was false positive Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 07/20/26 8:55 AM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 07/20/26 8:55 AM ET Comments: Link copied

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Sunday said that a follow-up review of a lettuce sample collected from Taylor Farms determined it was a false positive for cyclospora, the parasitic illness that has caused a nationwide outbreak.

The FDA previously stated on Saturday that the shredded lettuce sample provided by Taylor Farms from central Mexico tested positive and that another test was needed due to “the complexity in detection of cyclospora.”

As of Sunday, the FDA has not confirmed any positive samples detecting the illness.

“FDA has notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market,” the FDA stated on its website.

Taylor Farms on Sunday said that the FDA “apologized to us.”

“Today, we were informed that FDA made a mistake, and this was a false positive,” the company said in a statement. “To be clear, at this moment, FDA has not identified a single positive product test result for cyclospora.”

The company said that it recalled all of its shredded lettuce products that were grown and processed in central Mexico, while all other Taylor Farms products have not been recalled.

The outbreak has caused nearly 7,000 infections across 34 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cyclosporiasis has been linked to lettuce used in Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, which has resulted in around 100 hospitalizations and no deaths.

Taco Bell said it has stopped using Taylor Farms lettuce.

The infection works when a microscopic, spherical parasite enters the intestines and causes watery diarrhea “with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the CDC. The illness can last several weeks or months if not treated with antibiotics and is usually not life-threatening.

Cyclospora spreads after people eat food or drink water contaminated with feces, the CDC states. It can take between two days and two weeks for a person to become sick, and person-to-person infection is unlikely. The parasites are typically linked to various types of fresh produce.

The parasites can be difficult to remove from the surface of some fresh produce, including those with bumpy or textured surfaces like raspberries. Foods that may carry cyclospora are safest to eat after they have been cooked, which eliminates the virus.

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