FDA official insists ‘U.S. food supply is safe’ as cyclosporiasis cases hit 11,000 - The Hill

What the report says

The Hill reported that a senior Food and Drug Administration official sought to reassure the public about food safety as U.S. cyclosporiasis cases rose to roughly 11,000, including confirmed and still-unverified illnesses. Donald Prater, the FDA’s acting deputy commissioner for food, said Monday at the International Association for Food Protection’s annual meeting that the “U.S. food supply is safe,” while also acknowledging ongoing challenges, according to The Hill’s account citing The New York Times.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday that 4,173 laboratory-confirmed U.S. cases had been reported since early May. The agency also listed more than 7,400 additional illnesses that had not yet been confirmed in a lab and still needed review. The illnesses are tied to cyclospora, a parasite that can spread through contaminated food or water, and officials have identified multiple case clusters.

Cyclosporiasis can cause diarrhea and frequent bowel movements, along with symptoms such as loss of appetite, weight loss, stomach cramps and abdominal pain. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said last week that the outbreak was under control, The Hill reported.

The FDA previously linked one outbreak across five states in the Midwest and Appalachia to iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms facilities in Mexico. However, The Hill reported that samples from the Mexican Taylor Farms facility did not test positive for cyclospora. The case count and the difficulty of confirming sources underscore the challenges public health agencies face in tracing foodborne outbreaks while trying to maintain public confidence in the food supply.