Taylor Farms de Mexico, the producer of mixed salad linked to Cyclospora outbreaks at Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants in Iowa and Nebraska, resumed operations yesterday after receiving an all-clear from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company, which had suspended operations August 9 during the agency’s investigation, has agreed to implement a comprehensive Cyclospora sampling program for leafy green and other products from their farms and processing facility in Mexico. The program will also include sampling water and continued monitoring of the sanitary conditions at the facilities.
The FDA has inspected Taylor Farms de Mexico’s processing facility and five farms identified through the traceback investigation and found that conditions and practices were in accordance with known food safety protocols. It has been more than five weeks since the last date of illness onset for a case patient in Iowa or Nebraska who ate at one of those restaurants.
At least 610 people in 22 states have beeb sickened with Cyclospora infection since mid-June. By state, the cases reported so far are as follows: Texas (258), Iowa (156), Nebraska (86), Florida (31) Wisconsin (16), Illinois (11), Arkansas (10), New York City (7), Georgia (5), Missouri (5), Kansas (4), Louisiana (3), New Jersey (3), Connecticut (2), Minnesota (2), New York (2), Ohio (2), Virginia (2), California (1), New Hampshire (1), South Dakota (1), Tennessee (1), and Wyoming (1). At least 43 people have been hospitalized.
