Taylor Farms Cyclospora Outbreak: Epidemiology and the Cost of Getting It Wrong | Episode 181

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Over 20,000 people sick, five different versions of the same denial, and a produce giant that helped write the very traceability rules it's now dodging. In this episode of Don’t Eat Poop! Matt and Francine dig into the Cyclospora outbreak tied to Taylor Farms lettuce and the Taco Bell connection everyone's talking about.

They break down how Bill Marler builds a case against a company, why epidemiology (not a lab test) is what actually proves where an outbreak came from, and why Taco Bell's fast, transparent response is saving its reputation while Taylor Farms' spin is making things worse.

In this episode:

💩 00:00:00 Lettuce Ordering Mishaps

💩 00:05:05 Bill Marler's IAFP Article and Cyclospora Update

💩 00:10:32 How Epidemiology Proves an Outbreak's Source

💩 00:13:31 Taco Bell vs. Taylor Farms' Response on Cyclospora

💩 00:17:12 The Jensen Farms Cantaloupe Case

💩 00:21:02 Lettuce Sales Drop 20%

💩 00:22:35 Taylor Farms' Shifting Statements

💩 00:26:38 Taylor Farms Helped Write the Traceability Rules It's Now Sidestepping

💩 00:30:52 Why Taylor Farms Will Be Remembered in This Outbreak

Disclaimer: Episode title and content do not constitute legal or health advice.

Resources from this episode

Use the code POOP for a 25% discount for the Food Safety Consortium Conference: https://www.eventleaf.com/e/FoodSafetyConsortium 

Take a look at the Bill Marler articles mentioned in this episode:

• At IAFP I Was Told It Was American Sewage, Not Mexican Lettuce. That Gets the Parasite Half Right and the Continent Entirely Wrong. 
• Here Is Everything Taco Bell Has Said About Cyclospora. The Company Was Already Pulling Lettuce When It Told Reporters Nothing Had Been Confirmed. 
• Taylor Farms Has Now Written Five Different Versions of the Same Statement. The Newest One Says It Ran Two Thousand Samples and Found Nothing. Ohio Just Added 1,437 Cyclospora Cases in a Week and the Fifty-State Count Crossed Twenty Thousand.

Noteworthy quotes from this episode

“If you needed a positive test for a product to confirm that product really was sold and consumed and got that person sick, consumers would rarely get compensated for anything. And you don't. In food safety law, epidemiology works.” – Matt Regusci

“I'm astounded at the arguments that people are coming up with about why it's not and why it can't be Taylor Farms when there's so much evidence pointing to the fact that it is.” – Francine L Shaw

We hope you enjoy this episode!

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