A former commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration has said it was “not standard operating procedure” for a food company to ask the White House to delay a product recall tied to the cyclosporiasis outbreak.<\/p>\n
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who worked as the head of the FDA from 2017 to 2019, appeared on CBS’s\u00a0Face The Nation<\/em>\u00a0on Sunday to field questions about the outbreak, which has led to at least 98 hospitalizations and 1,947 cases as of last Friday.<\/p>\n When asked about a Wall Street Journal report that alleged produce giant Taylor Farms called the White House to delay the announcement of a recall tied to its iceberg lettuce, Gottlieb said it was an “unusual” practice.<\/p>\n “It was not standard operating procedure,” Gottlieb said. “And it wasn’t standard operating procedure when I was at FDA\u2026 I dealt with outbreaks in romaine lettuce and spinach as well\u2026 I never heard from the White House on those things, other than to have discussions to inform them of what we were doing.”<\/p>\n The comments come as the cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to shredded iceberg lettuce sold at Taco Bell has been expanded to at least nine states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u00a0said Friday.<\/p>\n The CDC said it had confirmed additional cases in Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, which are connected to previously confirmed cases in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. It is believed to be the largest cyclosporiasis outbreak to ever hit the United States.<\/p>\n Separately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u00a0said on Wednesday night\u00a0that it was investigating a new outbreak of cyclosporiasis that has sickened at least 72 people. The FDA did not specify the locations of the confirmed cases, and said the source of the outbreak was “not yet identified.”<\/p>\n North Carolina is dealing with a separate surge. The state has reported 561 cases since May 1, nearly double its total for all of 2025, with 16 hospitalizations,\u00a0according to the state health department. Officials said those cases do not appear to be linked to the Taco Bell outbreak and have pointed to parsley, cilantro and lettuce as foods that keep coming up in interviews with sick people. As a precaution,\u00a0some Raleigh-Durham school districts pulled fresh produce from their summer lunch menus.<\/p>\n Cyclosporiasis is a gastrointestinal illness that can cause “explosive” diarrhea.<\/p>\n Since May 1, the CDC has confirmed more than 4,100 cases across 41 states, with at least 7,400 additional illnesses under investigation, according to\u00a0the agency’s surveillance data. More than 300 people have been hospitalized.<\/p>\n “Because cyclosporiasis is often underdiagnosed and underreported, the true number of illnesses is likely higher than what has been reported to CDC,” the agency said.<\/p>\n Michigan alone has reported at least 8,100 cases this year, and 160 people have been hospitalized for the infection as of July 24, according to the state’s\u00a0health department.<\/p>\n Last week, the FDA revealed that an initial positive test result for cyclospora in a sample of shredded lettuce from Taylor Farms had been a “false positive,” before clarifying that the lettuce from the supplier is still the focus of its investigation.<\/p>\n “To clarify, 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 agency said in\u00a0a statement posted to social media, adding that its “traceback investigation and outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms locations in central Mexico.”<\/p>\n The FDA attributed the false positive to the complexity in detecting the cyclospora parasite. The agency said it was continuing to work with Taylor Farms “to ensure product implicated in this outbreak has been removed from the market.”<\/p>\n In\u00a0a statement, Taylor Farms said the FDA had “apologized to us” and that the company remains “committed to working with public health authorities.” The company said it had voluntarily recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico out of an abundance of caution, based on the FDA’s initial findings.<\/p>\n Late last week, the FDA and CDC warned Taco Bell customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce from any of the fast-food chain’s locations in those five states.<\/p>\n The statement identified Taylor Farms de Mexico, which it said provided shredded iceberg lettuce used by Taco Bell locations where sick people ate before becoming ill.<\/p>\n The recall reached well beyond Taco Bell. Taylor Farms’ recall covered Marketside-brand iceberg lettuce sold at Walmart stores, according to the\u00a0FDA recall notice, along with products sent to Jack in the Box restaurants and food-service distributors in 27 states, according to\u00a0CIDRAP, a public health research group at the University of Minnesota.<\/p>\n Taco Bell said it had\u00a0stopped using\u00a0the affected lettuce “indefinitely.” In\u00a0an open letter\u00a0to “fans” of the fast-food chain, Taco Bell CEO Sean Tresvant thanked them for their love and support, and promised to be “transparent about what we know and what we are doing next.”<\/p>\n The outbreak has also become political. On July 21, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u00a0said the outbreak was “under control.”\u00a0“We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics and we have identified the source of the outbreak,” Kennedy said at a briefing. “We, and the companies that are involved, have implemented a recall.”<\/p>\n His assessment drew pushback. In the days since, case counts climbed and the outbreak expanded from five states to nine. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia, a Democrat, has accused the administration of weakening food safety by cutting a federal surveillance program. Kennedy called that criticism “invalid,” saying the cuts were to “redundant surveillance.”<\/p>\n Cyclosporiasis is caused by a parasite called\u00a0Cyclospora cayetanensis<\/em>. People become infected by consuming contaminated food or water that contains the parasite. The symptoms of cyclosporiasis are similar to those of other\u00a0foodborne illnesses\u00a0like norovirus, E. coli or salmonella, except that cyclosporiasis “lasts longer and symptoms can get a little better and then they can come back,”\u00a0Dr. Jade Le, infectious diseases service line chief at Access TeleCare, told Yahoo.<\/p>\n Cyclosporiasis outbreaks have been linked to some types of imported fresh produce, such as raspberries, basil, snow peas, mesclun lettuce and cilantro, according to the\u00a0CDC.<\/p>\n Cyclospora spreads through feces. Produce could become contaminated if a farm’s water supply, such as a reservoir, contains feces or sewage, Le said. Farm produce could also become contaminated if a worker fails to wash their hands after going to the bathroom and then handles the produce.<\/p>\n “What happens is we as humans ingest that contaminated food source, and we get this explosive watery diarrhea that can be accompanied by fever, belly cramps, nausea and vomiting,” Le said.<\/p>\n She also stressed that cyclosporiasis is “not transmitted from person to person.” Instead, infection generally occurs after someone consumes contaminated food or water. The parasite usually needs at least one to two weeks outside the body to become infectious after it is passed in a bowel movement,\u00a0according to the CDC.<\/p>\n “You’d have to have maybe gone to the bathroom, not wash your hands, then started working in your garden around your lettuce, and a few days later, this parasite multiplies, infects that lettuce, someone ingests the unwashed infected lettuce and they get sick,” Le explained.<\/p>\n You don’t need to immediately throw out your fresh produce to prevent cyclosporiasis, Le said. But there are some steps you can take to make the ingredients in your fridge safer.<\/p>\n “Cooking is probably the most effective way to kill the parasite,” Le explained. That can give you peace of mind when you’re roasting root vegetables, but it doesn’t mean you need to start boiling your fruits and salads. “Washing your vegetables and fruits well should get rid of most [parasites],” she said. And that still holds true for products labeled “prewashed,” she said. For protection against cyclospora \u2014 and other food contaminants, such as E. coli\u00a0\u2014<\/em>\u00a0these produce items should still be washed before preparing them, she recommends.<\/p>\n Taking steps to reduce your risk of infection is important, but so is eating fresh produce. “I would not avoid eating any types of salads, herbs, fresh fruits and vegetables,” Le said, adding: “Continue to eat those products, but just be aware if you’re in a state where there’s been an outbreak.”<\/p>\n “Just being aware of your symptoms is the most important thing,” Le said. “If you have watery, explosive diarrhea with stomach cramps, maybe a low-grade fever, reach out to your doctor sooner than later.”<\/p>\n Your health care provider can diagnose cyclosporiasis by testing a stool sample, though patients may need to submit several samples collected on different days, as the parasite can be hard to detect even when symptomatic.<\/p>\n “You have to tell them, ‘Can you please order a test that checks for cyclospora?’ Some of the common stool tests may not specifically check for this parasite,” Le also advised. “If the symptoms are more than just a few days and are going on [for] a week or two, have a low threshold to ask your doctor to look for this.”<\/p>\n For immunocompromised people, health care providers may prescribe antibiotics to treat cyclosporiasis. But for most patients, rest and plenty of fluids are the recommended treatment.<\/p>\n “You should be worried if you live in a state where there’s a current outbreak,” Le said. “But on a level of worry between one to 10, it’s not the 10 or even a nine or eight. I would say just be more aware of the food you’re eating.”<\/p>\n The main concern with any diarrheal illness is severe dehydration, which can land people in the hospital, Le said. But, she added, “You’re unlikely to die from this unless you’ve let those symptoms go on so long and did not seek medical care.”<\/p>\n Taylor Farms has been contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A former commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration has said it was “not standard operating procedure” for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3614,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3612\/revisions\/3614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What’s happening with the Taylor Farms investigation?<\/h2>\n
How do people get cyclosporiasis?<\/h2>\n
What you should do with your produce<\/h2>\n
What to do if you get sick<\/h2>\n
Should you be worried?<\/h2>\n