Uhhhh… This isn’t the update anyone wanted to hear!
For months now, Americans have been getting severely sick due to an outbreak of the parasite Cyclospora, which causes explosive diarrhea among other nasty symptoms. People have even been hospitalized! There’s been a mad dash to figure out what’s causing so many people across so many states to fall ill, with initial theories being that it had something to do with lettuce served at certain Taco Bell locations. Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce was linked to the outbreak after having distributed some lettuce from a Mexican farm to the fast food joint, according to reports last week, and they even did a recall of their product out of an abundance of caution, though they insisted “no Taylor Farms branded salads or kits are associated with this outbreak.”
But now? Everything has changed!
Related: Taco Bell Hit With Multiple Lawsuits Over Explosive Diarrhea Parasite Outbreak!
On Sunday, the produce company released a statement claiming the FDA admitted to making a “mistake” — their salad is apparently NOT at fault. They wrote:
“Today, FDA apologized to us. Yesterday, FDA informed Taylor Fresh Foods that one of its iceberg lettuce products from central Mexico had a ‘confirmed positive’ test for cyclospora. Today, we were informed that FDA made a mistake, and this was a false positive. To be clear, at this moment, FDA has not identified a single positive product test result for Cyclospora.”
Wait, what?!?!
The statement continued:
“Acting on initial information provided by health officials, in an abundance of caution, we completed a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico. Recalled product was limited to iceberg lettuce grown and processed in central Mexico.
All other Taylor Farms products, including all Taylor Farms branded products currently available, are not involved in the recall.
Our thoughts remain with everyone who has fallen ill in this outbreak. We are committed to working with public health authorities as the ongoing outbreak investigation continues.”
The FDA also released an update on its website, explaining:
“Due to the complexity in detection of Cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts re-reviewed the sample results and have concluded that the finding does not represent true amplification and should be considered a false positive.”
As a result, at this time, there is no product that has tested positive for the parasite:
“FDA has notified Taylor Farms and continues working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market. FDA and state partners continue to collect and analyze product samples. As of July 19, 2026, there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing for Cyclospora.”
Huh. So odd! What the heck has caused this!? We just want to eat produce (and Taco Bell) in peace again! LOLz!
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