Patrons who dined at Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants in Iowa and Nebraska caught a rare parasite when they consumed contaminated salad mix that came from Mexico, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports.
The FDA has an ongoing investigation of the outbreak of Cyclospora cayetanensis, technical name for the parasite. The federal agency released the following statement:
The FDA traceback investigation has confirmed that the salad mix identified by Iowa and Nebraska as being linked to the outbreak of cyclosporiasis in those states was supplied to restaurants in those states by Taylor Farms de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V., a processor of foodservice salads. The FDA traceback investigation found that illness clusters at restaurants were traced to a common supplier, Taylor Farms de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. The restaurants in Iowa and Nebraska include Olive Garden and Red Lobster, both of which are owned by Darden Restaurants.
FDA’s investigation has not implicated consumer packages sold in grocery stores.
The source of the outbreak relates to four "illness clusters" of restaurants, FDA spokeswoman Theresa Eisenman confirmed to CNN.
Darden, the company which own Olive Garden, Red Lobster and chains such as LongHorn Steakhouse, told CNN the information about their supplier is news to them as well.
"Nothing we have seen prior to this announcement gave us any reason to be concerned about the products we've received from this supplier," Darden said in a statement. The company told CNN it is safe to eat at their restaurants.
According to the FDA, Taylor Farms has been cooperating with the investigation, stating that there will be more tests run in Mexico "to try to learn the probable cause of the outbreak and identify preventive controls." The farm was last inspected in 2011, and the FDA confirmed there was no problems found within the facility.
"We have an extensive testing program in Mexico to test water sources and raw product for coliforms, E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria," Taylor Farm’s CEO, Bruce Taylor, told CNN. "All our tests have been negative and we have no evidence of cyclospora in our product."
