The Food and Drug Administration on Sunday announced that the agency screwed up when it broadcast that the parasite sweeping across the United States was caused by lettuce from a producer in Mexico, saying that they actually are still unsure of where the Cyclospora bacteria that causes explosive diarrhea is coming from.
The FDA had announced on Friday that the outbreak of cyclosporiasis—which according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention causes “watery diarrhea with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements” that can last for as long as a month—was caused by lettuce produced by Taylor Farms de Mexico.
However, on Sunday the FDA said in a statement that the lettuce produced a false positive.
“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,” the FDA said in a statement, adding that, “As of July 19, 2026, there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora.”
Taylor Farms said that the FDA has apologized to them for the false information. But the apology doesn’t do much for businesses like Taco Bell, which are facing monetary losses after being accused of spreading the diarrhea parasite because they purchase their lettuce from Taylor Farms.
The FDA’s apparent inability to pinpoint the source of the outbreak—which has thus far sickened at least 1,645 people in the U.S., with thousands more cases being assessed—comes after President Donald Trump and Elon Musk slashed staff at both the FDA and the CDC, both of which are responsible for trying to prevent the spread of foodborne illnesses like cyclosporiasis.
Related | Sh-tstorm descends on US after Trump slashed CDC food safety efforts
DOGE made cuts to the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network—better known as FoodNet—which is a federal-state monitoring program between the CDC, FDA, Department of Agriculture, and state health agencies in 10 major states. And that left FoodNet only able to monitor two foodborne pathogens: Salmonella and E. coli.
Six other pathogens—including Cyclospora—were cut from the monitoring list, NBC News reported last August.
“Although FoodNet will narrow its focus to Salmonella and [E. coli], it will maintain both its infrastructure and the quality it has come to represent,” a CDC spokesperson told NBC at the time. “Narrowing FoodNet’s reporting requirements and associated activities will allow FoodNet staff to prioritize core activities.”
Turns out, those cuts did reduce FoodNet’s testing quality.
Now, thousands are sick, and Americans have no idea what foods are safe to eat if they want to avoid a gastrointestinal illness that could land them in the hospital. Thanks, Trump.
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