The Food and Drug Administration walked back an earlier statement that a sample of lettuce from Taylor Farms tested positive for cyclospora, though the company's recall remains in place.
The FDA on Sunday said it is still collecting and analyzing lettuce samples tied to a severe foodborne illness outbreak. The agency's latest statement reverses a finding shared on Saturday that a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico had tested positive for cyclospora.
The agency now says additional laboratory reviews showed the detection was a false positive.
Taylor Farms, which supplies some of the country's biggest retailers and restaurants, makes a range of products from salad kits to vegetable blends.
Government agencies last week linked shredded iceberg lettuce -- served at locations of the restaurant chain Taco Bell -- to thousands of reports of foodborne-illness in five states.
Most people infected with cyclospora develop diarrhea with frequent bowel movements, health authorities have said. Symptoms also include loss of appetite, weight loss and stomach pain. The illness can last a few days, or even weeks.
Taylor Farms said the FDA has apologized. The company said it voluntarily recalled the shredded iceberg lettuce grown and processed in central Mexico "in an abundance of caution." The recalled product was distributed from June 29 to July 16 across 27 states.
The FDA said Sunday that it is still working with Taylor to ensure the implicated product has been removed from the market.
"Our thoughts remain with everyone who has fallen ill in this outbreak," Taylor Farms said. "We are committed to working with public health authorities as the ongoing outbreak investigation continues." Many other Taylor Farms products remain on store shelves.
Testing for cyclospora is very challenging, said Jennifer McEntire, a food-safety professional who consults for companies including Taylor.
In part, that is because it is impossible to grow in a lab. Unlike bacteria like E. coli and salmonella, cyclospora cannot be cultured to produce a larger amount of genetic material for study, McEntire said. That limits scientists' ability to link individual cases to a common source.
"You're looking for a needle in a haystack," she said. "With E. coli and salmonella if you find it you can make the needle bigger. That doesn't happen for cyclospora." The FDA and state agencies are continuing to analyze samples and hunt for sources linked to the spread of the cyclospora parasite. Cyclosporiasis is an illness that can result in a potentially weekslong bout with explosive diarrhea.
Future lab tests could identify the parasite's presence on other samples of Taylor Farms-supplied lettuce, but the finding gives a boost to a company navigating the fallout from the outbreak.
Write to Bowdeya Tweh at bowdeya.tweh@wsj.com and Jesse Newman at jesse.newman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 20, 2026 11:17 ET (15:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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