FDA says cyclospora found at Mexican farm tied to US lettuce outbreak
The FDA said inspectors detected cyclospora at a Mexican farm linked to the largest cyclospora outbreak in US history, while Mexican regulators' own investigation found no trace of the parasite there.
The US Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that its inspectors had found cyclospora at a Mexican farm tied to the largest foodborne illness outbreak caused by the parasite in US history. Inspectors detected it in a wastewater tank and in a drainage ditch used for lettuce cultivation at the Guanajuato facility, operated by Taylor Farms. The agency acknowledged it remains unclear exactly how the lettuce became contaminated, but said the samples provide strong epidemiological evidence linking the site to the outbreak.
The announcement comes less than a month after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared an end to the multi-state outbreak, which sickened nearly 13,000 people across 21 states, hospitalized 570 and killed two.
Conflicting findings
The FDA's statement follows a separate investigation by Mexico's own food safety authority, which found no cyclospora in either the lettuce or the water at the facility. Mexico's conclusion came just days after the FDA was forced to retract a faulty test result that had wrongly identified cyclospora in a Taylor Farms lettuce sample collected at the border.
The FDA's visit to the farm took place more than six weeks before Friday's announcement and marked the agency's first inspection there in over seven years, reflecting a sharp decline in international food safety inspections since the Covid pandemic.
In its own statement, Taylor Farms attributed the contamination cited by the FDA to an independent grower no longer part of its supplier program. The company said its facility in central Mexico remains closed while it works with its research team to put enhanced safety protocols in place from field to facility.
Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that typically causes watery diarrhea, sometimes with explosive bowel movements, according to the CDC. Other symptoms include loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps, bloating and excess gas. The resulting illness, cyclosporiasis, is less common than foodborne illnesses caused by germs such as salmonella and E. coli.
