FDA says Taylor Farms lettuce sample tested for cyclospora produced false positive

Health newsFDA says Taylor Farms lettuce sample tested for cyclospora produced false positive for the parasiteThe false positive was discovered when the Food and Drug Administration re-reviewed the results of a sample from Taylor Farms de Mexico. It doesn’t change its earlier voluntary recall.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00In a statement late Sunday, Taylor Farms said the FDA made a mistake and apologized for the false positive.Benjamin Fanjoy / Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 20, 2026, 12:30 AM EDTBy Joe Kottke and Dennis RomeroA sample of lettuce from a supplier that has recalled products as a result of a multi-state cyclospora outbreak produced a false positive result for the parasite, federal officials said Sunday.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The false positive was discovered when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration re-reviewed the results of a sample from Taylor Farms de Mexico that as reported positive Saturday. “As of July 19, 2026, there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora,” the FDA said in its statement. The false positive does not change the company’s earlier voluntary recall of its iceberg lettuce that was sourced from central Mexico. Taylor Farms, which produces lettuce for Taco Bell and multiple grocery retailers, continues “working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market,” the FDA said in a statement Sunday evening.In a statement Sunday night, Taylor Farms said the FDA made a mistake and apologized. It echoed the FDA’s statement and said the FDA has not identified a “single positive product test result for Cyclospora.”The company said it will continue to work with public health officials investigating the origins of the outbreak.More coverage of the outbreakHow health officials are tracking the cyclospora outbreaksTaylor Farms has had food safety problems be...