The US Food and Drug Administration and lettuce supplier Taylor Farms are publicly disagreeing over whether the agency apologised to the company amid an ongoing outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a parasitic infection causing severe diarrhoea. Taylor Farms issued a voluntary recall of iceberg lettuce sourced from Central Mexico on 17 July, and days later claimed on social media that the FDA had apologised after a positive test result on a separate lettuce sample turned out to be a false positive. The FDA has firmly denied offering an "official apology," insisting it was merely clarifying the difficulty of testing for and tracing cyclospora outbreaks, and stressed that the recall remains fully in effect.

The recall, which spans 27 states and includes lettuce supplied to Taco Bell and Walmart, follows illnesses reported across at least five states since May. Michigan alone has recorded 6,148 cases, with experts suggesting the true nationwide total is likely higher than officially reported. Taylor Farms has also pushed back on the FDA and CDC's investigation methods, reportedly meeting White House and FDA officials on 16 July, the day before its recall, to raise concerns about "shortfalls" in the agencies' response and to question their conclusions, even though most such outbreaks are traced through epidemiological evidence rather than product testing.