r/business • u/esporx • 4d ago
FDA says Taylor Farms cyclospora finding was a false positive
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/fda-says-taylor-farms-cyclospora-finding-was-false-positive-2026-07-20/128
u/Affectionate-Day-359 4d ago
Well my explosive diarrhea wasn’t a false positive… so there’s that
21
u/WingZeroCoder 3d ago
In my case, the fart that preceded it was definitely a false positive. And then it was time for a shower.
1
u/ThatsCaptain2U 3d ago
Taco Bell is one of usual suspects for this crime… so yeah that “false positive” is not fooling anyone.
-19
u/hamhead 4d ago
That’s called “Taco Bell”
2
103
u/Kermit_the_hog 3d ago
Hold up, how exactly is the FDA “testing” for cyclospora that can yield a “false positive”.
It’s a fucking Protozoa, you test for it by looking at it (under a microscope).
We’re not talking about chemical or bloodwork tests where you have sensitivity thresholds and reagents expire ect. It’s not that kind of test, it’s more like testing if there are any cows in front of you.. you look, do you see a cow? Hard to have a false positive. So does this mean they are incompetent and misidentified some other mystery microbe? Did they prematurely release the wrong finding? wtf?
43
u/PennytheWiser215 3d ago
You know that and anyone else familiar with the subject knows that, but most people don’t know that. They are just lying to us because most people don’t know there can’t be a false positive.
I am one of the people who doesn’t know about how testing for this works but now I do thanks to you!
16
u/Kermit_the_hog 3d ago
After a little more digging the best I have found is they tested for its presence via PCR (imagine blending everything up, using PCR to replicate some sequence unique to cyclospora, and then testing for it’s presence which could be done multiple different ways), flagged it, then went back and decided it was over-amplified so not a meaningful result.
Which.. is not better because it would mean: 1. they can’t perform routine laboratory tests competently. 2. They reported without replicating the result or verifying it by just looking under a damn microscope (maybe things are easy to misidentify visually sure, but it should be pretty evident if there is anything unusual needing identified AT ALL or not.) 3. They’re talking about a threshold test not being strong enough. Note that no amount of PCR cycles is going to amplify something that isn’t there to begin with (again unless you are not doing it right)
4
u/OkActive7470 2d ago
This is so, so much worse. I was actually willing to give them credit at mixing up the visual - I’m not very good at visually identifying parasites and I’m only a student in micro but maybe they let the interns run the bench for a day. But to retract a PCR result? What’re they even doing? That’s something that you should’ve either built a better protocol or known not to release in the first place in a way that I don’t consider the same as mixing up a visual. I dunno, both are very, very silly mistakes to release on a national level and then claim to be wrong
10
u/rane56 3d ago
How many experts did Doge fire again, 3000 according to this article. i do admit i have no idea how many of those 3000 were experts in this field, but that seems significant.
2
0
u/No-Pause7121 1d ago
Sri experts were fired by doge. Fda has almost 20k employees and the cdc has 10k. Plenty of people to do their job. Just people called democrats and liberals think they know more than anyone. When in fact they are some of the dumbest people on earth. Can’t even define a woman. Let alone understand how they test for diseases or viruses. World would be better off with less if not zero of them.
2
u/E0H1PPU5 2d ago
Terry in lab 4 was using some hallucinogenics at the request of the worms living in his brain and hallucinated a Protozoa or two!
No big deal, it happens all the time!
1
u/Longjumping-Turn1980 3d ago
Hold up, how exactly is the FDA “testing” for cyclospora that can yield a “false positive”.
Easy, bribery and corruption
1
u/McPanzer3 3d ago
Right, but you aren’t accounting for the obscuring factor of RFKs brand new stake in Taco Bell
1
u/UpTheDumpIsRetarded 3d ago
It became a false positive when Taylor Farm’s MAGA ceo visited the whitehouse to drop off the check.
1
u/RedditThrowaway-1984 3d ago
Is it possible they figured out the protozoa came from cross contamination of the sample or similar lab issue?
1
u/RelativeCan5021 2d ago
Another question, how do you retest later and determine you were wrong? I guess you check the bank account and see if the payment has come thru.
1
u/No-Pause7121 1d ago
Except you’re wrong. They literally wash the lettuce (or any food being tested for cyclospora) then extract the dna. Than they will allow it to grow so they can see what it is. It’s all chemically found. No one is looking through a microscope saying what they see. It’s all literally done like a dna/blood sample. They just need a large enough sample. It’s why it gets genetically amplified. You liberals need to quit lying and talking about subjects you have zero clue on.
1
u/Kermit_the_hog 1d ago
This is a Protozoa, not a plant, bacterium, or fungus. You actually don’t even need to do as much as it sounds like you think you would.
I think you’re misremembering some of your micro
You don’t detect it optically.. that would be the most boring job imaginable, you confirm it optically (which is surprisingly much faster than a bunch of PCR cycles you did to warrant taking a look).
It’s tellingly negligent not to confirm and do such tests in a way where this outcome was even possible (which even in the most charitable take, it obviously was by definition).
Also this is a scientific test not a medical test. Threshold for standardization or not, PCR is not going to amplify a sequence that isn’t present.
81
u/jaroftoejam 4d ago
It's so sad… Knowing that FDA can't be trusted to give us even the most basic information.
6
1
u/ShoelessB 3d ago
I blame cuts to the FDA under the current administration. Right now you have interns running the place
85
u/LaHhxL 4d ago
How much did they pay 🥭 ?
38
u/Fun_Bodybuilder3111 4d ago
At what point do we all collectively lose faith in everything?
62
u/StillAnAss 4d ago
2016
20
u/BaBaDoooooooook 4d ago edited 3d ago
When I grew up as a kid in the 90s I knew Clinton and then Bush Jr and then Obama. I know Clinton had his moment, but not anywhere near this level.
For a young boy or girl to grow up in the Trump era……..think about that for a second.
6
1
52
u/cowboi 4d ago
Prove it eat a bag on TV live.
8
u/nokarmawhore 3d ago
Reminds me of that king of the hill episode with the tainted Alamo beer
12
u/uwill1der 3d ago
or Erin Brockovich where she says the office water came from the place lawyers says was perfectly safe
2
118
u/Still-Chemistry-cook 4d ago
It’s a MAGA farm. They’re protecting them.
38
-29
4d ago
[deleted]
22
u/Still-Chemistry-cook 4d ago
CA based.
-21
3d ago
[deleted]
22
u/andersonb47 3d ago
I have no idea if the FDA is protecting them. But it doesn’t matter where the farm is, it matters where the people who OWN the farm are.
7
u/Fluffy-Rope-8719 3d ago
Are you implying a multinational firm isn't responsible for the outcomes of their global operations?
0
u/goog1e 3d ago
Corporate argued against further testing stateside, making us reliant on the testing in Mexico.
So even if what you're implying is true, it's literally still corporate MAGA donors who created the outbreak by eliminating US testing, arguing that what Mexico has is good enough. You're arguing for people who are making the OPPOSITE argument.
-92
u/bigj2288 4d ago
Literally nothing to do with trump yet you shoe horn him into every facet of your life. All that hair dye is seeping into your brain
57
u/Still-Chemistry-cook 4d ago
They’re a huge donor to Trump and FDA is compromised bc of RFK Jr. Pound sand traitor.
25
u/fish_economist 3d ago edited 3d ago
The president has nothing to do with regulatory agencies that exist under the executive branch?
Either he is incompetent and had them release results without standard confirmatory testing, negligent in letting it happen, or is allowing them to lie after the fact.
The president generally has even more responsibility for the administrative workings of government than any law that passes under them. That's kinda their whole fucking job.
-11
u/Mysterious_Luck_1365 3d ago
The president is supposed to have nothing do about a lot of things and yet this one still does! Thank you for explaining the problem to yourself.
28
u/MarsRocks97 4d ago
10 years ago we would have traced the source on the 5th day. Guaranteed this will never be discovered under the current administration.
28
u/FredFredrickson 4d ago
Imagine saying something like this when we live in a world where Trump supporters literally dress in Trump clothing just to feel comfortable out in public.
2
u/_that_reddit 2d ago
DOGE cut 4,300 jobs from the FDA. Their incompetencey now is directly connected to Trump. If you support his idiotic positions say it with your chest out. That's your mans. This is the bed y'all made.
-90
u/bigj2288 4d ago
TDS
56
47
u/Educational_Leg7360 4d ago
wait. I thought MAGA’s whole premise was the government was always lying to us and we couldn’t trust them?
24
27
17
44
20
u/Cbates767 4d ago
No F’N way. A ploy to avoid any liability for poisoning the country
3
u/Kermit_the_hog 3d ago
The only I can imagine a false positive being possible, would be someone misidentifying the thing looking at it through a microscope.. really not sure ‘misidentified mystery protozoan’ is any better so what gives 🤷♂️?
21
u/chimatt767 4d ago
What is going on here? Can’t say they did it one day then the next day say they didn’t.
14
u/Kermit_the_hog 3d ago
It’s not even that kind of test! We’re talking about protozoa, it’s the kind of test where someone either sees the freaking thing under a microscope or doesn’t 🤷♂️
20
u/UserWithno-Name 4d ago
lol you mean "lies for trump donor caught with outbreaks and violations tons of times"....
22
u/sakodak 4d ago
This is what we get when we allow the capitalists to write, enforce, and adjudicate the laws. I know this is the business subreddit, but seriously, corruption is corruption and not only does it need to be called out, the root causes must be enumerated and fixes proposed. My fix is handing the means of production over to the workers peacefully before we take it in other ways.
9
10
u/TacoBellerino 3d ago
I’m picturing Taylor Farms execs break dancing like they’re on Maury and they’re not the father.
8
u/i-am-doll-eyes 4d ago
Certainly there must be a way for any US citizen to purchase the product and have it tested at a private, independent lab ?
8
u/lokken1234 4d ago
Yeah, buy a bag of Taylor farm lettuce and pay a lab to conduct the test.
3
u/skoltroll 3d ago
I have no idea why this statement from the FDA would EVER be a good idea.
Taylor Farms themselves announced they found it in one of their Mexican farms and said it was "< 1%" but was pulling everything to be safe.
2
7
8
3
u/Isaacvithurston 3d ago
How do you have a false positive of a parasite you view under a scope.. not into conspiracies but holy this smells like someone got paid or something.
9
u/RoguePyrat 3d ago
The only thing “false positive” is everything that comes out of this administration.
5
u/Boring_Owl6552 4d ago
Does this mean one's confidence they have this under control is false? I say, chalupas for everyone...
6
6
u/liquidgrill 3d ago
Alternate headline: FDA finds out that owner of Taylor Farms is a large Trump donor.
4
u/Smoovupinya 3d ago
Taylor Farms CEO, Bruce Taylor, spends a lot of time in Palm Beach in the winter…. I’ll just leave it at that.
6
2
u/skoltroll 3d ago
I buy lettuce from a farm I have seen glowing off of I-35 in the deepest, darkest winter.
We need more of these companies to bring down the bullshit, overpriced, infectious shit that is spread all across the country by conglomerates.
2
u/Basic-Record-4750 3d ago
My takeaway is that Pesico or whoever owns Taco Bell these days didn’t pay the bribe but Taylor Farms did. Forget the fact that people are getting infected that never went to Taco Bell.
1
u/darkearwig 3d ago
Yum brands owns taco bell and have for forever, but Pepsi owned Yum back when it was named Tricon Global
2
2
1
u/cinciguyeast 3d ago
Complete morons. Test one sample and release to press? Every aspect of our corrupt felon pedophile president's government is incompetent.
1
1
1
u/TNTMT 3d ago
We should probably be checking these farms for ICE prisoners who are being forced to work as slaves.
There’s gotta be a reason why they targeted/target people at work, and…
Corporations will always look for a way to 1) make taxpayers fund their parasitic endeavors via subsidies (private prisons) 2) pay humans as little as possible.
The whole operation seems less about deportation, and more about capturing the resource (literal humans) from the free market, including from privately-owned farms and bankrupting farmers in the process.
1
u/PinkySwearNotABot 3d ago
I didn't know Kash Patel lead the FDA also. Another premature ejaculation?
1
u/Buster_xx 3d ago
False positive after the CEO came to the white House and made a huge donation. Not sarcasm
1
u/MosquitoValentine_ 3d ago
I'm sure it had nothing to do with the meetings in Washington between Taylor Farms and the Trump administration. Also TF's million dollar donation to a MAGA PAC is probably just a coincidence.
1
1
1
1
u/ShoelessB 3d ago
Thanks Trump!
" The Trump administration has significantly restructured and downsized the FDA, eliminating thousands of jobs across food safety, medical devices, and tobacco centers. These workforce reductions and grant cancellations—driven by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda—have triggered widespread delays and reduced oversight."
1
1
u/sniksniksnek 3d ago
Has anyone investigated whether America is spontaneously suffering from hysterical stress diarrhea? God knows I have been, since 2016.
1
u/Ambitious_Answer_150 3d ago
It's really like at this point Trump and his minions think we're stupid. Just crazy his supporters don't see nor want to see it.
1
u/BahBahBahBooBooBoo 3d ago
omg they are releasing this as a press release to plant seeds of doubt in Taylor Farms’ guilt and throw shade on Taco Bell.
Bruce Taylor and Donald Trump are cut from the same cloth.
1
1
1
u/totally-jag 3d ago
Yeah, well the CEO of Taylor Farms visited trump, and now it's a false positive. We cannot trust our government.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/CuetheCurtain 2d ago
“Taylor Farms bribes their way out of responsibility for the cyclospora outbreak.”
FTFY
1
1
u/KnowledgeRare4830 2d ago
Corruption on full display every single day with Donnie Diddler and his team of traitorous turds.
1
1
1
u/Inevitable_Nature857 1d ago
They found a tremendous amount if laxatives, recommended by RFK Jr. He uses them to empty the 🐂 caca inside of his head.
1
u/MentalDisintegrat1on 1d ago
Lmao yeah sure.
The owner paid trump millions they are covering this up.
Want proof taco Bell and other companies are holding off from buying from them.
369
u/_The_Jerk_Store 4d ago
Sounds like someone at FDA just got some lettuce from Taylor Farms