Taylor Farms Says FDA Has Apologized Over ‘False Positive’ Cyclospora...

Taylor Farms said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had apologized after it emerged that testing of lettuce from the company's supplier had resulted in a "false positive" for Cyclospora. It came after Taylor Farms, a global produce supplier based in California, expanded a voluntary recall on Friday of its iceberg lettuce products sourced from central Mexico because of a potential link to the multistate outbreak of cyclospora, a diarrhea-causing parasite that has sickened people across the U.S. The FDA had earlier said that its investigation had identified a single supplier (Taylor Farms de Mexico) of iceberg lettuce that was used by Taco Bell locations in five states—Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia—where people who became sick had eaten. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had also warned people not to eat food items with the lettuce from the supplier at the restaurants. But on Sunday, the FDA and Taylor Farms announced that testing of lettuce from the supplier had yielded a false positive and the agency had not identified any positive test results for cyclospora. "Today, FDA apologized to us," Taylor Fresh Foods, the parent company of Taylor Farms, told Newsweek on Sunday. "Yesterday, FDA informed Taylor Fresh Foods that one of its iceberg lettuce products from central Mexico tested positive for cyclospora. Today, we were informed that FDA made a mistake, and this was a false positive. To be clear, at this moment, FDA has not identified a single positive product test result for Cyclospora." The FDA said on Sunday: "FDA is providing an update regarding the sample of lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico which was reported positive on July 18, 2026. "Due to the complexity in detection of Cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts re-reviewed the sample results and have concluded that the finding does not represent true amplification and should be considered a false positive." The agency added: "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 added that as of Sunday there had been "no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora." This is a developing story. More to follow.