FDA Says Recalled Lettuce Reached New York Before Being Pulled

FDA reverses course again and reaffirms Taylor Farms Lettuce is reportedly the source of Cyclospora outbreak.

Just weeks after federal health officials walked back what appeared to be their strongest piece of evidence against Taylor Farms, the FDA is once again pointing the finger at the company's shredded iceberg lettuce.

In its latest outbreak update released August 5, the FDA expanded its Cyclospora investigation from nine states to 15 and made its position even clearer: despite an earlier testing error, investigators still believe Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce is responsible for the multi-state outbreak.

The investigation has taken several twists since July.

On July 18, the FDA announced that a laboratory sample of Taylor Farms lettuce had tested positive for Cyclospora, appearing to provide direct evidence linking the company's products to the outbreak. But then, jjust one day later, the agency reversed course.

After reviewing the laboratory data, FDA scientists determined the result was actually a false positive. The agency removed references to the positive sample and acknowledged there were no confirmed positive product tests for Cyclospora.

That reversal prompted questions about whether Taylor Farms had been wrongly blamed.

Even after retracting the lab result, the FDA stressed that investigators never stopped believing the outbreak originated with Taylor Farms' shredded iceberg lettuce.

Officials said their conclusion is based primarily on "epidemiological evidence, including interviews with sick patients and traceback investigations that consistently led back to shredded iceberg lettuce sourced from growers in central Mexico."

In fact, the FDA specifically said the false-positive test "does not change the basis for FDA's ongoing outbreak investigation" because the evidence continues to point toward Taylor Farms.

The newest FDA update expands the investigation to 15 states, adding Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire and North Carolina.

Rather than backing away after the laboratory mistake, federal investigators have broadened the outbreak while continuing to identify Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce as the suspected source.

New York still has not been added to the FDA's official outbreak investigation.

However, New York was among the states where recalled Taylor Farms products were distributed before they were pulled from stores and restaurants, meaning consumers here may have been exposed to recalled products even though no outbreak cases have been officially linked to the state.