The US Food and Drug Administration said Sunday that laboratory specialists had reviewed lettuce test results from Taylor Farms as part of a cyclospora outbreak investigation and determined that the earlier finding should be treated as a false positive.
As of Sunday, the agency said there were no confirmed positive samples for cyclospora.
The update reversed the FDA’s statement from Saturday, when it said a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms had tested positive for the parasite linked to illnesses affecting thousands of people in the United States.
In its latest notice, the FDA said it had “notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market”.
According to the FDA, Taylor Farms had previously confirmed that the product was not included in its current recall.
Taylor Farms could not immediately be reached for comment.
Cyclosporiasis has been linked to shredded iceberg lettuce served at Yum Brands’ Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. The outbreak has led to about 100 hospitalizations and no deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The lettuce, which the FDA said late Thursday came from Mexico, was produced in 5-pound bags at Taylor Farms’ facility in Guanajuato, Mexico, a source told Reuters.
