By Melos Ambaye, Bloomberg
Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is demanding records from Taylor Farms as he questions whether the lettuce producer sought to influence the federal cyclospora investigation through its White House ties.
Garcia, in a letter to Taylor Farms Chief Executive Officer Bruce Taylor, questioned whether the company “used its political donations” to interfere with the US Food and Drug Administration’s investigation, according to a statement from the California lawmaker’s office.
Taylor Farms donated more than $2 million to political action committees tied to President Donald Trump and other Republicans in 2025, including $1 million to Trump’s super PAC, Garcia said in the letter. The lawmaker requested communications between the company and the FDA, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Department of Agriculture and the White House related to the outbreak.
Federal officials continue to investigate a cyclospora outbreak linked to Taylor Farms lettuce served at Taco Bell restaurants. The company, one of the largest suppliers of fresh-cut salads and vegetables in North America, recalled products sent to 27 states and suspended all iceberg lettuce purchases from central Mexico.
Taylor Farms did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mexican authorities said late Thursday that tests on lettuce and water samples from a Taylor Farms facility in Mexico were negative for cyclospora. The FDA said a previously reported false positive involving the company’s lettuce didn’t change the basis for the agency’s ongoing investigation or the overwhelming data supporting the voluntary recall.
Nearly 2,000 confirmed cases across nine states have been linked to the outbreak, the CDC said on Friday, while thousands more infections have been reported to health departments in 41 states. Cyclospora cases rise every summer as the warmer season allows the parasite that causes severe diarrhea to thrive, though typically fewer than 100 people nationwide are diagnosed each year.
– With assistance from Daniela Sirtori.
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