Federal regulators have begun an inspection of Taylor Farms' central Mexico processing plant, which has been linked to a multistate outbreak of cyclosporiasis.
The Food and Drug Administration is conducting an inspection and collecting samples at Taylor Farms de Mexico of Guanajuato, Mexico, the agency said on Aug. 13. The inspection comes almost a month after the Salinas, California-headquartered Taylor Farms said on July 17 that it was removing iceberg lettuce sourced from Central Mexico from the marketplace.
Taylor Farms took that action a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FDA and state health officials linked a single supplier of lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants to an ongoing outbreak of a stomach-churning parasitic
infection. The illness, cyclosporiasis, is caused by the parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis; symptoms include watery diarrhea, cramping, gas, nausea and fatigue.
Since May, the U.S. has experienced an unprecedented wave of thousands of cyclospora infections, including two deaths. The CDC, which lags significantly behind states in reporting infections, has reported 13,895 laboratory-confirmed cases across 47 states between May 1 and its latest update on Aug. 10.
Donald Prater, the FDA’s acting deputy commissioner for food, told The Washington Post that agricultural water is often the cause of cyclospora contamination. The FDA is “looking carefully at the available data to be able to understand what could have happened,” he said.
Taylor Farms, which suspended processing and distribution of iceberg lettuce and brought in outside inspectors at its Central Mexico plant, has also recalled a variety of food products containing jalapeños linked to an ongoing salmonella outbreak.
Is it safe to eat lettuce? What we know
Probably. The FDA, according to its update, "remains confident that all recalled iceberg lettuce related to this specific cyclospora outbreak is off the market" and said it will continue its investigation along with federal and state officials.
In Michigan, the state with the most cyclosporiasis cases, the state's health department said in an Aug. 6 statement that residents "can resume routine guidance for consuming lettuce and salad greens."
Since officials have not identified a source for all of the cases, Dr. Dana G. Mordue, associate professor of pathology, microbiology and immunology at New York Medical College, suggests caution, especially for people at risk of more serious illness, such as older adults and children.
"I would be reluctant to say that it is safe to go back to eating the fruits and vegetables," she told USA TODAY. "In fact, we don't even know for sure what fruits and vegetables are causing the disease."
How could food safety be improved?
Frank Yiannas, who served more than three years as deputy commissioner for food policy and response at the FDA before leaving in early 2022, wrote in a Food Safety News July 13 editorial that regulators should create a National Foodborne Outbreak Investigation Board, akin to the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents such as plane crashes and train derailments. Such a board would "strengthen coordination, improve transparency, and accelerate the identification of lessons learned following major foodborne outbreaks," he wrote.
"Just like hurricane tracking, projections, and building standards have improved over time, so too should capabilities in regard to Cyclospora surveillance, detection and prevention," Yiannas wrote
Such a board could have "a Go Team in the air within hours, because everybody involved understands that a scene degrades," wrote food safety expert and personal injury lawyer Bill Marler in Food Safety News on Aug. 13.
The FDA inspection announcement "does not say when that inspection began or whether anyone is there now," Marler wrote. "Whatever an inspection turns up now, it is turning it up in a plant that has been shut for nearly a month."
Contributing: Melina Khan and Mary Walrath-Holdridge
Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FDA inspects Taylor Farms Mexico plant linked to outbreak
