🥬 TIL: The produce giant linked to the summer cyclospora outbreak called the White House to ask it to delay the recall announcement.
The WSJ reported that Taylor Farms reps reached out as the FDA prepared to publicly link its Mexico-grown iceberg lettuce to one of the largest US foodborne outbreaks in years: 4,173 confirmed cases since May, with 94 people hospitalized among Taco Bell customers alone. The call was arranged by a former White House personnel official now lobbying for the company.
The recall went out a day later anyway, and the FDA says it never walked back the "overwhelming epidemiological evidence." But the messaging whiplash was real: Taco Bell was named publicly a full day before the supplier, and the company and FDA then feuded over a "false positive" lettuce test and an alleged FDA apology the agency says never happened.
Former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb called asking the White House to intervene "not standard operating procedure." House Oversight has now opened an inquiry. Context: Taylor Fresh Foods gave $1 million to MAGA Inc. in March 2025. CEO Bruce Taylor is a major GOP donor personally, though he never gave directly to Trump.
Read more:
theguardian.com/us-news/2026/j…
cbsnews.com/news/taylor-farms-…
snopes.com/news/2026/07/21/tay…
‘Not standard’ for Taylor Farms to ask White House to delay cyclospora recall, ex-FDA head says
Scott Gottlieb responds to report that company contacted the White House seeking to delay a recall announcementMarina Dunbar (The Guardian)
