Monday, October 14, 2013

Olive Garden and Red Lobster Falsely Accused

As of September 20, 2013 the CDC had been notified of 643 ill persons with of Cyclospora infection from 25 states: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York (including New York City), Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Most of the illness onset dates have ranged from mid-June through mid-July. Among 581 ill persons with available information, 45 (8%) have reported being hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Public health officials in Iowa and Nebraska performed investigations within their states and concluded that restaurant-associated cases of Cyclospora infection in their states were linked to a salad mix produced by Taylor Farms de Mexico. Olive Garden and Red Lobster were named by the FDA as two places where the contaminated salad was served.
On August 12, 2013, Taylor Farms de Mexico informed FDA that the company had voluntarily suspended production and shipment of any salad mix, leafy green, or salad mix components from its operations in Mexico to the United States.
Taylor Farms did 1800 tests trying to find Cyclospora. All Tests were negative. No Cyclospora was found. On August 25, 2013, Taylor Farms de Mexico, with FDA concurrence, resumed production and shipment of salad mix, leafy greens, and salad mix components to the United States. No announcement was made to correct the misinformation about Olive
Although the investigation of cases continued, available evidence suggests that not all of the cases of cyclosporiasis in the various states are directly related to each other.
However, unlike some other foodborne parasites, cyclospora doesn't become infectious for days or weeks this causes a real problem for investigators because most people do not remember what they ate that long ago. It is likely that we will never know what caused the outbreak.





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