The FDA is walking back its initial claims that a Taco Bell lettuce supplier is responsible for sickening hundreds of Americans with explosive diarrhea, saying the original test results were a “false positive.”
The stunning reversal comes after the agency double-checked a lettuce sample, which found that the leafy green supplied by Taylor Farms de Mexico did not have traces of Cyclospora – the parasite that causes the crappy condition.
“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,” the agency said on its website Sunday.
The FDA also added that there are currently no confirmed samples of products testing positive for the parasitic pathogens.
Taylor Farms, the parent company of Taylor Farms de Mexico, said that the FDA had “apologized” to them about the false positive, saying they made a “mistake.”
“Today, we were informed that FDA made a mistake, and this was a false positive,” Taylor Farms said in a statement.
The false alarm retracts the FDA’s Friday announcement, which linked the outbreak of the debilitating “explosive diarrhea” parasite to the Taylor Fresh Farm’s subsidiary.
Officials originally said that contaminated lettuce was grown in Central Mexico and then shipped to Taco Bell locations in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia, where it sickened people.
Consumers were told to toss Taylor Farms iceberg lettuce, which is used at other fast food restaurants besides Taco Bell and can also be bought in supermarkets.
Taco Bell locations throughout the country were avoiding the ingredient altogether.
Taylor Farms had also voluntarily recalled the leafy green, providing a list of affected lots of lettuce in 27 states.
The FDA said that it’s continuing to work with the produce supplier to remove products implicated in the outbreak from the market – even in light of the false positive.
Cyclosporiasis, the disease caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora, has ravaged the bowels of over 1,600 Americans in 34 states, according to the CDC.
The sickness is infamous for causing prolonged diarrhea – along with other unpleasant symptoms like stomach cramps and low-grade fever, the CDC said.
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