Taylor Farms CEO pressed by lawmaker over cyclospora outbreak and White House ties - CBS News

What the report says

CBS News reports that Rep. Robert Garcia of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has opened an inquiry into Taylor Farms over a nationwide cyclospora outbreak tied to recalled lettuce. In a Monday letter to CEO Bruce Taylor, Garcia asked whether the company used connections to the White House to shape the federal response. The outbreak has sickened thousands across dozens of states, according to the report.

Garcia is seeking Taylor Farms’ communications with federal agencies about cyclospora since the outbreak began, any contacts with the White House since Jan. 21, and documents on the company’s food-safety procedures. CBS cited Federal Election Commission filings showing Taylor Farms gave $1 million in 2025 to President Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., and more than $1 million last year to other Republican political committees. Garcia told CBS the public deserves clarity about the company’s role.

The White House rejected the suggestion that politics affected the response. Spokesman Kush Desai told CBS that claims the administration would compromise public health were false, and said the FDA is conducting an evidence-based investigation. Taylor Farms did not directly address the Oversight letter in its statement to CBS, but said food safety is paramount and noted that the FDA had no confirmed positive cyclospora product tests as of July 24.

CBS reports that the FDA linked illnesses on July 16 to iceberg lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants in five states, later identifying Taylor Farms de Mexico as the source of potentially contaminated produce. The agency announced, then reclassified, a positive lettuce sample as a false positive, a reversal outside experts described to CBS as unusual.