The fact that a test result on lettuce from Taylor Farms produced a false positive doesn't change the basis for the Food and Drug Administration's outbreak investigation or the epidemiological data backing the company's voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce covering 27 states, acting FDA Commissioner Kyle Diamantas said today on a call with reporters.
"FDA’s traceback investigation and the outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms location in central Mexico," FDA Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food Don Prater said on the call.
In a statement posted on X Monday, issued after Taylor Farms said FDA had "apologized" for the false positive, the agency said it had alerted the company over the weekend "that a new sample of shredded lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico tested positive for cyclospora during import examination at the Southern Border. This ended up being a false positive, and Taylor Farms was alerted to the corrective test result Sunday."
Asked whether FDA had "apologized" to Taylor Farms, an FDA official said the agency had provided "factual information."
The agency will "continue to work with federal and state partners to investigate this multistate outbreak and ensure products implicated in this outbreak have been removed from the market," FDA's X post said. "Protecting the American public remains our highest priority. We encourage the public to continue to avoid all products listed in Taylor Farms’ voluntary recall."
Susan Mayne, who headed the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at FDA and is now an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health said, "Numerous outbreaks are solved on the basis of epidemiology and traceback alone. Contamination of food is sporadic and likely occurred days to weeks ago. Absence of evidence (of a positive test result) is never evidence of absence. Also, the sample reported positive was not part of this recall so the evidence around the recall has not changed."
An FDA official on the call today said it's "challenging to detect this organism. Finding and testing the individual lettuce pieces that sicken people with the cyclospora parasite has always been a challenge. From harvest to eating iceberg lettuce, it typically has a short shelf life, and by the time people are sickened, the contaminated product is gone."
In a statement Sunday, FDA said that "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."
“FDA has notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market. FDA and state partners continue to collect and analyze product samples. As of July 19, 2026, there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for cyclospora.”
FDA's webpage, however, continued to warn consumers, "Do not eat recalled iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico. FDA’s investigation is ongoing." The sample was from lettuce sourced from Taylor Farms de Mexico.
In a statement Sunday, Taylor Farms emphasized that “at this moment, FDA has not identified a single positive product test result for cyclospora.”
“Based on initial information provided by health officials, in an abundance of caution, we completed a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico. Recalled product was limited to iceberg lettuce grown and processed in central Mexico. All other Taylor Farms products, including all Taylor Farms brand products available for purchase, are not involved in the recall.
“Our thoughts remain with everyone who has fallen ill in this outbreak. We are committed to working with public health authorities as the ongoing outbreak investigation continues,” the company’s statement said.
The outbreak has sickened about 1,600 people and sent nearly 100 to the hospital. FDA linked illnesses to people who had eaten at Taco Bell in five states and Taylor Farms’ recall included iceberg lettuce in 27 states.
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