Food and Drug Administration officials traveled to Mexico this week to inspect Taylor Farms’ operations there as part of the agency’s investigation into the nationwide cyclospora outbreak, according to a new report.
FDA investigators examined the processing facility where lettuce linked to the cyclospora outbreak — caused by a microscopic parasite that can trigger explosive diarrhea — was handled, sources told The Washington Post.
Investigators sought to reconstruct the conditions in which the leafy greens were grown and gathered, reviewing weather records and satellite imagery and gathering testing materials. They are also expected to inspect the site’s fields.
Former health officials and food safety experts said the agency should have traveled to Mexico sooner, rather than waiting weeks after public health officials linked the company’s shredded lettuce to the outbreak. It was reported earlier this week that inspectors hadn’t visited the Mexico location in the last seven years.
Some warned that evidence of the conditions that may have enabled the contamination could already have disappeared, further complicating the investigation. Taylor Farms said it suspended all production at the facility on July 18, and more than three million pounds of lettuce tied to the site has been recalled.
“Ideally, as soon as [the FDA] traced it back to the source, they would be out there working with the facility and specifically working with Taylor Farms to do a root-cause analysis so that we can understand what happened,” Barbara Kowalcyk, the director of George Washington University’s Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security told the outlet. “That’s really what’s going to drive prevention going forward.”
Mexican authorities conducted their own inspection of the site from July 18 through July 20, according to the Mexican government.
CBS News reported this week that Taylor Farms’ facility in the Guanajuato state linked to the outbreak had not been inspected by the FDA since 2019.
Since May 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received reports of nearly 14,000 lab-confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis, the illness caused by infection with the cyclospora parasite. Upwards of 10,000 additional cases may require further investigation.
By comparison, 1,180 cases were reported domestically between May and August 2025.
Hundreds of people nationwide have been hospitalized, and two deaths have been reported. Michigan has emerged as an epicenter, with more than 13,000 cases reported in the state alone.
The illness is typically linked to consuming food or water contaminated with feces and can cause diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and fever. Symptoms can take weeks to emerge and generally resolve on their own, according to the CDC.
In an August 13 update, the FDA confirmed that it had begun inspections at Taylor Farms de Mexico.
“The outbreak includes people who reported exposure to processed iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms de Mexico served or purchased at various locations, including people who previously reported eating at Taco Bell,” the health agency said. “Most of these illnesses began before the Taylor Farms de Mexico iceberg lettuce recall on July 17, 2026.”
The agency said it is “confident” that all recalled iceberg lettuce tied to the outbreak is now off the market.
A Taylor Farms spokesperson previously told The Independent that the company “immediately removed all potentially implicated product from the marketplace” when questions arose about the source of the outbreak.
“Out of an abundance of caution we issued an even broader recall of all iceberg lettuce sourced from the region,” the spokesperson added. “We have also voluntarily suspended all iceberg lettuce sourcing and production from central Mexico.”
The Independent has contacted the FDA and Taylor Farms for comment.
