The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said on Sunday, July 19, that a test that appeared to find Cyclospora in shredded iceberg lettuce was actually a “false positive.”
The FDA previously said that laboratory testing had identified Cyclospora, the parasite responsible for a multistate diarrhea outbreak that has sickened thousands, in a sample of shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico. But after reviewing the sample results again, the agency said it was revising its announcement.
“Due to the complexity in detection of Cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts…have concluded that the finding does not represent true amplification and should be considered a false positive,” the agency wrote in a July 20 post on X. FDA officials stressed, however, that Taylor Farms locations in Mexico and iceberg lettuce remain linked to the outbreak despite the false positive result.
Here’s what else you should know about the cyclosporiasis outbreak and what you can do to protect yourself.
What is causing the Cyclospora outbreak?
