Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. said on Tuesday that the cyclosporiasis outbreak was under control even while authorities are still searching for answers about why thousands of people in the US have suffered from explosive diarrhea after eating contaminated food products.
“We have done extensive forensics, epidemiological forensics, and we’ve identified the source of the outbreak,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also said cuts to federal agencies had nothing to do with the lack of answers to the outbreak. “Those criticisms are invalid. We’ve had no cuts in our surveillance program,” Kennedy said.
How to tell if your lettuce is safe:
The FDA’s Acting Deputy Commissioner for Food Donald Prater said on Monday that the investigation is zeroing in on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms, but Michigan’s DHHS says other sources cannot be ruled out.
“The FDA’s traceback investigation and the outbreak data continue to converge on shredded iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms’ location in central Mexico,” Prater said.
The FDA encourages people to inspect their salad and lettuce purchases from last week to make sure they aren’t sourced from Taylor Farms de Mexico of Guanajato, Mexico.
Of course earlier the FDA walked back a positive ID of infected lettuce from Mexico as a false positive, and Mexican Health Secretary David Kershenobich said Tuesday at a news conference that his country’s own investigation had not found evidence that the outbreak originated there.
Taylor Farms still recalled all iceberg lettuce sourced from Central Mexico.
However, the lettuce was still on shelves in several states as recently as Thursday so you should check your fridge and toss them if you find them.
The lettuce was also sold at Walmart stores under the Marketside brand.
The following were sold in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia:
- 12-ounce and 24-ounce Iceberg Salad with best by dates between July 18 and Aug. 3
- 8-ounce and 16-ounce Shredded Lettuce with best by dates between July 18 and Aug. 3
As of July 21 across Michigan alone, more than 6,500 cases of cyclosporiasis have been confirmed by the state’s health department.
More than 100 hospitalizations have occurred in the state as of July 16. Michigan typically would have seen 50 cases in a year.