Taylor Farms to cut Mexican lettuce supply after outbreak

Leading leafy green grower and distributor Taylor Farms is cutting its supply of iceberg lettuce from Mexico after the company’s produce was involved in a major Cyclosporiasis outbreak this summer.

In a letter from CEO and founder Bruce Taylor posted on the company’s website on October 8th, the executive said the firm will “indefinitely suspend the harvesting and processing” of iceberg lettuce from central Mexico. The decision will effectively stop the sale of the vegetable in Canada and the US during the Mexican rainy season, when Cyclosporiasis infection risk is at its peak.

“Eating fresh produce is one of the best things you and your family can do for your health, and that makes keeping it safe, accessible, and dependable our greatest responsibility,” Taylor wrote.

Taylor Farms’ commitment to prevent future outbreaks

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the biggest cyclosporiasis outbreak ever recorded in the US killed two people, hospitalized over a thousand, and infected nearly 20,000 between May and September this year.

During the outbreak, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pointed to Taylor Farms’ shredded iceberg lettuce supplied from its facility in central Mexico as a likely source of some of the cases detected this summer.

That led the company to recall all iceberg lettuce from the facility and suspend production while the FDA, Mexico’s federal health regulator, and third-party experts conducted a full investigation. Meanwhile, Fast-food chain Taco Bell announced that it had stopped using Mexican lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms. The grower and distributor subsequently removed the independent grower from its supplier program after the FDA found two positive samples in its facilities.

Following a months-long investigation into the outbreak, the agency said on October 2 that there was insufficient evidence “to conclusively determine how contamination occurred in this outbreak.”

However, “the positive samples show that Cyclospora was present in the environment where lettuce was grown and processed,” the FDA said.

Image courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“This adds to the strong epidemiological data and traceback convergence supporting the link between this outbreak and recalled shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico,” it said.

In addition to limiting the supply of Mexican lettuce, Taylor also announced that his company will expand existing year-round health monitoring and increase irrigation water and crop testing in central Mexico. 

The firm will also join a public-private task force with the FDA, scientists, industry leaders, and public health officials to identify lasting prevention measures for all fresh produce growers, while also boosting investigation into the disease.

“We are leading and investing in new research and technology to improve Cyclospora detection and prevention tools,” the executive said.

Written by Tom Azzopardi 

*All images are referential

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