In a stunning reversal on Sunday, the Food and Drug Administration said that lettuce samples from Taylor Farms did not, after all, test positive for the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis, which is behind the rising outbreak of explosive diarrhea sweeping the nation.
Health officials have been racing to control the intestinal infection, which fortunately is not deadly, but can cause weeks of violently watery diarrhea.
By Saturday, the FDA said it had found traces of the parasite in shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms — one of Taco Bell’s lead suppliers — only to change its mind just one day later.
“To be clear, at this moment, FDA has not identified a single positive product test result for cyclospora,” a Taylor Fresh Foods spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.
