A former senior food safety official who served under Donald Trump has sharply criticized the federal response to the cyclospora outbreak in the United States, warning that the handling of the crisis has come close to “catastrophic” mismanagement as thousands of Americans have fallen ill.
Frank Yiannas, who served as the Food and Drug Administration’s deputy commissioner for food policy from 2018 to 2023 across both the Trump and Joe Biden administrations, said the government’s actions should now be examined through an independent review. The outbreak has been tied to a parasite commonly associated with contaminated raw produce.
“This one deserves a lot of questions, and it is starting to approach a catastrophic level in terms of how mismanaged it’s been on multiple fronts,” Yiannas told Politico.
Yiannas argued that the public has been left with too much uncertainty about cyclosporiasis, the intestinal infection caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, often referred to simply as cyclospora. The illness can trigger severe diarrhea, and Yiannas said confusion has been worsened by what he described as weak federal leadership and inconsistent communication from government agencies.
The troubled response to the cyclospora outbreak has drawn growing scrutiny as health officials work to determine where the contamination began and how to stop it. More than 4,000 confirmed illnesses have been reported across the US, while officials believe thousands of additional people may also have been affected.
At one point, the FDA linked the outbreak to lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms, a vendor for Taco Bell, before later revising its position. Taylor Farms has said the agency apologized to the company over the matter, though the FDA has denied issuing such an apology.
The FDA continues to say there is strong evidence connecting Taylor Farms, which has recalled its lettuce, to the broader cyclospora investigation. Meanwhile, US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr said last week that the outbreak was “under control”, even as the FDA broadened its inquiry to include 7,400 possible cases in nine states.
“They just went too fast and they made a mistake,” Yiannas said of the FDA’s handling of the situation. “They should share more about how and why it happened and what they’ll do to prevent it in the future.”
A review of the government’s response should have congressional oversight or be done via an independent inspector, Yiannas said. The FDA has not immediately responded to this call for an investigation of its actions.
