FDA finds cyclospora at Mexican farm tied to lettuce outbreak

The US Food and Drug Administration said Friday that its inspectors detected cyclospora at a Mexican farm linked to the largest foodborne illness outbreak of the parasite in US history. The parasite was found in two locations: a wastewater tank and a drainage ditch used for lettuce cultivation, according to the agency. The FDA said it remains unclear how the lettuce became infected. The agency claimed the samples provide "strong epidemiological data" connecting the outbreak to the Taylor Farms site in Guanajuato.

The announcement came less than a month after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declared an end to the multi-state outbreak. That outbreak infected nearly 13,000 people across 21 states and led to 570 hospitalizations and two deaths. The FDA's visit to the farm was its first there in more than seven years, following a steep drop in international food safety inspections after the Covid pandemic. The agency sent investigators to Guanajuato more than six weeks before Friday's announcement.

According to The Guardian, Mexico's own food safety authority conducted an independent investigation and concluded that cyclospora was not detected in the lettuce or water at the facility. That finding came days after the FDA was forced to retract a faulty test result that had incorrectly identified cyclospora in a sample of lettuce from Taylor Farms collected at the border.

In a separate statement, Taylor Farms attributed the contamination cited by the FDA to an independent grower "who is no longer part of our supplier program." The company said its facility in central Mexico remains closed as it works with its research team to implement enhanced safety protocols from the field to the facility.

Cyclospora is a microscopic parasite that commonly causes watery diarrhea, which the CDC describes as "frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements." Other symptoms include loss of appetite and weight, stomach cramps, bloating and increased digestive gas. The illness, called cyclosporiasis, is less common than foodborne illnesses caused by other germs, including salmonella and E coli.