Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb stated on Monday that some large distributors and retail chains have stopped sourcing agricultural products from a region in central Mexico, due to suspicions of a larger-scale contamination linked to a cyclosporiasis outbreak affecting several US states.
According to Gottlieb’s statements on CNBC, various outbreak hotspots—including cases in the Great Lakes region, New York, and North Carolina—may be related to parsley and cilantro from central Mexico, although authorities have not yet determined the exact source of the contamination.
A contamination event may have occurred that affected multiple fields in the region.
Among the hypotheses being investigated are the arrival of wastewater in agricultural areas through irrigation water, flooding, the overflow of portable toilets used by farmworkers, or a possible rupture in a sewage canal.
“So there was some event that happened in central Mexico. We don’t know what it was yet,” Gottlieb said, emphasizing that the cause remains under investigation.
An FDA investigation had previously linked the outbreak to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms, distributed to Taco Bell restaurants—a chain owned by Yum Brands—in nine states. The company has already stopped sourcing from the affected region and closed its production facility there, although the FDA has indicated that it is investigating other products besides the lettuce.
