The Food and Drug Administration retracted one of the most significant pieces of laboratory evidence in the Taco Bell Cyclospora outbreak Sunday, acknowledging that a test showing Cyclospora cayetanensis in a sample of Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce was a false positive. But the FDA and public health officials were emphatic on a critical point: the retraction changes nothing about the recall, the epidemiological evidence linking Taylor Farms lettuce to the outbreak, or the public health guidance telling consumers to avoid the recalled product.
"This false-positive lab sample DOES NOT change the basis for FDA's ongoing outbreak investigation or the overwhelming epidemiological data supporting the current voluntary recall by Taylor Farms," the FDA stated on social media following the retraction.
