Speaker 1: Hey, there are folks, it is Monday, July twentieth. Then
Speaker 1: pull the toilet paper. We got folks set up shop
Speaker 1: on toilets all over the country. We're being told we
Speaker 1: need to avoid this, let us at certain places. Taco
Speaker 1: Bell stock continues to go down. And now what is
Speaker 1: the federal government telling us? We got a false positive
Speaker 1: on our cyclospora test? And with that, welcome to this
Speaker 1: episode of Amy and TJ. Does it even matter what
Speaker 1: they tell us next?
Speaker 2: No, And that's a hell of a whoopsie, I mean,
Speaker 2: and it was what twenty four hours they have identified
Speaker 2: the source. And look, we even threw caution out there
Speaker 2: that yes, they identified a source, maybe not the source
Speaker 2: they were able to they claimed on Saturday link much
Speaker 2: of this outbreak, or at least a big portion of
Speaker 2: this outbreak to a specific food producer that had a
Speaker 2: farm in Mexico that sold iceberg lettuce to Taco Bell
Speaker 2: in five states.
Speaker 3: Okay, we're getting somewhere. Except for now they.
Speaker 2: Say, never mind, that was a mistake.
Speaker 3: We're sorry.
Speaker 2: We actually don't have any idea where the cyclospora source
Speaker 2: is coming from.
Speaker 1: Well, here we go, folks, So if we it makes sense,
Speaker 1: And this is a difficult statement to make, but it
Speaker 1: is one they wanted to be clear. On robes. They
Speaker 1: have not gotten a single test back from any plant
Speaker 1: anywhere testing any food that is positive for cyclospora. That
Speaker 1: is the truth as we wake up here on this
Speaker 1: Monday morning. They were robes. They could still with some
Speaker 1: degree of what I don't know if it's certainty, but
Speaker 1: be optimistic about the way things are going from all
Speaker 1: these interviews that the CDC was doing. It's not fool proof,
Speaker 1: but they at least thought they were on the right now.
Speaker 3: Yes, because the CDC was tracing.
Speaker 2: I mean, much like we all remember from the days
Speaker 2: of COVID where they did contact tracing. They're trying to
Speaker 2: find who patient zero is, or at least find what
Speaker 2: or who the source was. The same idea exists. They
Speaker 2: were trying to trace back based on folks eating habits,
Speaker 2: their food diary so to speak, that they were trying
Speaker 2: to put together for the past two weeks and find
Speaker 2: some commonality, and that commonality was pointing towards taco bell
Speaker 2: And when they looked to see what folks ate, they
Speaker 2: tried to yes, based on verbal evidence, basically folks telling
Speaker 2: them what they ate. Say, hey, the one thing a
Speaker 2: lot of these people all had in common is they
Speaker 2: ate a product with this Iceberg lettuce on it.
Speaker 3: So it's anecdotal, it's not scientific.
Speaker 2: And so with that, in combination with this what they
Speaker 2: thought was a positive test from lettuce, they were able
Speaker 2: to make this big announcement that yes, we have determined
Speaker 2: or found a source.
Speaker 1: Taylor Farms reacted to that pulled everything they don't they pulled?
Speaker 1: Did they not pull all of their well from this farm?
Speaker 2: I should say, I can tell you here are the
Speaker 2: actions that were taken based on this information where we
Speaker 2: were given. Just a short while ago, Tailor Farms voluntarily
Speaker 2: removed all Iceberg lettuce source from Mexico from twenty seven states.
Speaker 2: So we're not just talking about Taco Bell. We're talking
Speaker 2: about every place they sent that lettuce to. They voluntarily
Speaker 2: recalled it. Taco Bell removed all affected Tailor Farms lettuce
Speaker 2: from its restaurants, put out a big statement saying, you
Speaker 2: can eat at our restaurants again, we have no lettuce
Speaker 2: from Tailor Farms. Walmart even announced over the weekend they
Speaker 2: removed four market side bagged Iceberg lettuce salad products.
Speaker 3: These are big salad kits.
Speaker 2: That are they have the label of the Walmart label
Speaker 2: on it, but it actually is manufactured by Tailor Farms.
Speaker 2: So they took out and they made it clear, hey,
Speaker 2: this is a precautionary move. There's no confirmed illnesses, but
Speaker 2: out of an abundance of caution, we're taking all of
Speaker 2: these products off of our store shelf. So a lot
Speaker 2: was done in response to what our government was telling us.
Speaker 1: I guess it's possible that this is correct. It's possible
Speaker 1: this is still the farm. This is possible, I guess
Speaker 1: roads through the trade. But don't they need to find
Speaker 1: don't they need to confirm it's coming from there before
Speaker 1: we know how to go about our eating lies.
Speaker 2: They have to And yes, they did say they are
Speaker 2: still following through with these recalls, and you should still assume,
Speaker 2: perhaps that they are close to identifying a source. So
Speaker 2: they aren't stopping the recall, they aren't stopping the removal
Speaker 2: of those products, and they're not telling people to go
Speaker 2: ahead and eat those products. No, they are still standing
Speaker 2: by the original direction that they gave the country. But
Speaker 2: it is incredible, confusing and erodes a very I don't
Speaker 2: even know if there was trust right now, at least
Speaker 2: in our government agencies, pretty much any of them.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: What is the level of trust we have for our government,
Speaker 2: for the folks who were supposed to be protecting us
Speaker 2: on all accounts, on all fronts, I don't know.
Speaker 3: But wherever it was, it just got worse.
Speaker 2: I think to read the FDA statement is appropriate right
Speaker 2: now because this is what they had to say.
Speaker 3: This is pretty remarkable.
Speaker 2: Can you recall, by the way, the last time a
Speaker 2: government agency said we made a mistake.
Speaker 1: You know what? That was a time in ninety seven.
Speaker 1: I think that's fine.
Speaker 3: I did say, someone say, this showed incredible courage. No,
Speaker 3: this is what you're supposed to do. I hate applauding.
Speaker 2: Correct I saw a scientist in one of the articles
Speaker 2: I might have been the Washington Post saying, Hey, this
Speaker 2: actually should be applauded. This as courageous to be able
Speaker 2: to admit a mistake, something to that effect, And I thought,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, isn't that what we should expect.
Speaker 1: Yes, don't award your kid for being polite that you're
Speaker 1: supposed to. I taught you to do this.
Speaker 2: No, I took total issue without Okay, here's the FDA
Speaker 2: statement the FDA is providing an update regarding this sample
Speaker 2: of lettuce supplied by Taylor Farms of Mexico, which was
Speaker 2: reported positive on July eighteenth, twenty twenty six. Due to
Speaker 2: the complexity in detection of cyclospora, FDA laboratory experts re
Speaker 2: reviewed the sample results and have concluded that the finding
Speaker 2: does not represent true amplification and should be considered a
Speaker 2: false positive. Information about the sample has been removed from
Speaker 2: the update. The FDA has notified Taylor Farms and continues
Speaker 2: working with the firm to ensure product implicated in this
Speaker 2: outbreak has been removed from the market. FDA and state
Speaker 2: partners continue to collect and analyze product sample and here's
Speaker 2: the big line. As of July nineteenth, twenty twenty six,
Speaker 2: there are no confirmed positive sample results for product testing
Speaker 2: for cyclospora.
Speaker 3: I have some questions. They re reviewed it.
Speaker 2: Why Why wouldn't they have done that before they issued
Speaker 2: the announcement.
Speaker 1: I'm confused timing. I don't know how the testing goes.
Speaker 1: Maybe there is that's possible, but that is something you
Speaker 1: don't go public with unless you know what you're talking about.
Speaker 1: I would assume, right.
Speaker 2: I don't think so too, and Also, the science is complicated.
Speaker 2: Testing for this organism is difficult, and false positives are
Speaker 2: always possible. So what can we trust when you hear
Speaker 2: these types of phrases. I always thought science was the
Speaker 2: thing we could count on.
Speaker 1: That's the thing. False positives are possible when you figure
Speaker 1: it out for sure. That's when you let me know.
Speaker 1: I don't understand this.
Speaker 2: I don't need to be let known something in the
Speaker 2: middle of the process if things could change. And because
Speaker 2: I am not a scientist, you are going to confuse
Speaker 2: me even more.
Speaker 1: We just had you just told us, hey, this stuff
Speaker 1: has cyclospora, but you didn't put in parentheses. We won't
Speaker 1: be sure though for a couple of days. Why didn't
Speaker 1: just give us a heads up? This could be a
Speaker 1: false positive, but the preliminary results that bro is never
Speaker 1: The crime is to cover up. It's yes, we have
Speaker 1: problems in the system, but now the problem is how
Speaker 1: we're communicating what the problem is. I get it. I
Speaker 1: know there are fewer people keeping an eye out for
Speaker 1: diseases like this, and things and outbreaks maybe happen more
Speaker 1: and can't get called us fast. This I understand, But
Speaker 1: when they happen, now you're making it worse. We got
Speaker 1: numbers kind of out of Michigan. Why are they coming
Speaker 1: out much faster than the ones we're getting from the
Speaker 1: federal government, who we're all supposed to be listening to.
Speaker 1: Even that is causing confusion through this whole thing. The
Speaker 1: lettuce is here, it is there? Is there a raspberry
Speaker 1: or a snowpee? Or is there a bag let us?
Speaker 1: Should I cut the head? Bro?
Speaker 3: Should I have cilantro? Can I have peak of the guy?
Speaker 3: I QUACAMOLEA know what?
Speaker 1: And here we go again? Who has stepped out? Who
Speaker 1: is leading the charge on this tropes? Who's a public
Speaker 1: face and is giving us information?
Speaker 3: No one wants it to be that would be my answer.
Speaker 2: And I don't know that they have the body count
Speaker 2: to provide that because they don't have the resources they
Speaker 2: had before. Taylor Farm's statement was swift and they want
Speaker 2: to make things very clear. I thought this was fascinating.
Speaker 2: The first it's a big green message with white bold lettering,
Speaker 2: and the first sentence is today FDA apologized to us. Yesterday,
Speaker 2: FDA informed Taylor Fresh Foods that one of its iceberg
Speaker 2: lettuce products from Central Mexico had a confirmed positive test.
Speaker 3: For cyclist SPORA.
Speaker 2: Today, we were informed that the FDA made a mistake
Speaker 2: and this was a false positive.
Speaker 1: Look.
Speaker 2: They said, to be clear, at this moment, the FDA
Speaker 2: has not identified a single positive product test result for cyclists.
Speaker 2: So they put this in bold, and I, you know,
Speaker 2: this is something that does tremendous damage, obviously to a company.
Speaker 3: I'm wondering if this is.
Speaker 2: Bad enough where this could put someone or at least
Speaker 2: a farm, or certainly people who work on that farm
Speaker 2: out of a job or out of business.
Speaker 3: But they put this in bold in their statement.
Speaker 2: All other tailor farm products, including all Tailor Farm brand products,
Speaker 2: are not involved in the recall. And they said, our
Speaker 2: thoughts remain with everyone who has fallen ill in this outbreak.
Speaker 2: We are committed to working with public health authorities as
Speaker 2: the ongoing.
Speaker 3: Outbreak investigation continues.
Speaker 2: Look, this is this is tough for everybody. This is
Speaker 2: especially tough for tailor farms. And it's not to say
Speaker 2: that they're not a part of this. They could still
Speaker 2: be a part of this. But wow, this is unbelievably damaging.
Speaker 1: Two. I thought when I saw this statement, I thought
Speaker 1: it was unbelievably damaging to the FDA, and its relationship
Speaker 1: with American Public. The company has come out and they
Speaker 1: know good and hell well what this means. It doesn't
Speaker 1: mean they're in the clear. They know this, They know
Speaker 1: that they probably even know the stuff likely came from them.
Speaker 1: They know what we don't know.
Speaker 3: They've been involved in outbreaks before.
Speaker 2: There was a big echol I want a few years ago,
Speaker 2: so they have been down this road.
Speaker 3: They know that this is possible and even likely in
Speaker 3: some ways.
Speaker 1: But they led with the thing that was true, even
Speaker 1: though it is misleading, but it's the most positive thing
Speaker 1: that came from it. The FDA did apologize to an
Speaker 1: oopsie to them. They took that and made it the headline,
Speaker 1: which makes it seem as if we are innocent in
Speaker 1: this entire matter and the FDA has cleared us. No no, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: not at all. But they took that was that was
Speaker 1: written like a Hollywood PR person.
Speaker 2: Not absolutely, it was like a big movie scroll. And
Speaker 2: to your point, babe, when we come back, we're going
Speaker 2: to talk about the eroded public trust and that big statement.
Speaker 2: People had plenty of comments following that statement. They weren't
Speaker 2: positive towards Taylor Farm. And wait until you hear about
Speaker 2: the CDC cuts that potentially led up to this massive
Speaker 2: cyclospora outbreak, and welcome back everyone to this episode of
Speaker 2: Amy and TJ. Looks like we are back to square
Speaker 2: one trying to find the source of this cyclost spora
Speaker 2: outbreak that we know has sickened at least seven thousand
Speaker 2: people across the country. It is already the largest cyclospora
Speaker 2: outbreak in US history, And go ahead and multiply that
Speaker 2: number by two or three. That's probably a more realistic
Speaker 2: situation in terms of how many people are dealing with this.
Speaker 2: And we haven't even gotten the updated numbers from over
Speaker 2: the weekend. So all this to say, this has been
Speaker 2: an incredibly uncomfortable, difficult, and perhaps an unnecessary outbreak. It
Speaker 2: began back in May. We know that in Michigan, and look,
Speaker 2: CNN is reporting about some significant lab cuts. The head
Speaker 2: of the lab has been speaking out. He resigned. I
Speaker 2: don't even really remember this, but I guess I kind
Speaker 2: of do. Back in September, he was so upset because
Speaker 2: his staff went from eleven to three, and that is
Speaker 2: the lab that.
Speaker 3: Is specifically.
Speaker 2: Supposed to identify parasitic outbreaks. Coincidence, he thinks, not.
Speaker 1: Sure the timing is suspect.
Speaker 3: Three people are in charge of this lab right now.
Speaker 2: It's this lab that has three people in it that
Speaker 2: now reevaluated the results and realized.
Speaker 3: That it was a false positive.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. Sounds like you would want more.
Speaker 2: But he describes this outbreak as the perfect storm because
Speaker 2: one percent he actually sent an email emails out to
Speaker 2: the CDC about the risks of losing basically his entire
Speaker 2: staff and is the reason behind him actually resigning his
Speaker 2: position because he did not want to be in charge
Speaker 2: of something if an outbreak were to occur. Fast forward
Speaker 2: a few months and here we are in July, way
Speaker 2: behind the curve of the CDC. Numbers are way behind
Speaker 2: what state officials are reporting.
Speaker 3: And that's a fact.
Speaker 2: They are behind the curve here, and it could absolutely
Speaker 2: be part of the reason why we're so behind and
Speaker 2: identifying a source.
Speaker 1: I don't know how anyone could argue with that. And
Speaker 1: if you're telling me the guy who's in there correct
Speaker 1: it's coming out and giving his opinion about it, then
Speaker 1: I'd have to listen to him. But right now, Robes,
Speaker 1: we can fix that problem later. Right now, we just
Speaker 1: got to find this one. I am very curious to
Speaker 1: know what the numbers are when they do get them
Speaker 1: out today. Are they going to slow down? Is this
Speaker 1: thing spreading even more? Is it going to be forty
Speaker 1: two states? I mean, what is going on? We don't
Speaker 1: know where this stuff is. We don't even know for
Speaker 1: sure what thus.
Speaker 2: Nope, we're supposed to be looking for meantime, everyone's trying
Speaker 2: to figure out what to do.
Speaker 3: This is the time of your people love to eat
Speaker 3: fresh produce.
Speaker 2: You want that salad, you want those fruits, you want
Speaker 2: those veggies, you want that basil. And I guess this
Speaker 2: is the time. My dad pointed this out, who is
Speaker 2: a microologist. It's a great time to have a yard
Speaker 2: in a garden, because that'd be the only way I
Speaker 2: would trust the produce that I was eating. And look,
Speaker 2: I was just looking at some of the comments at
Speaker 2: the bottom of that tailor Farm's big statement, basically pointing
Speaker 2: the finger right back at the government. And look, some
Speaker 2: people said, I just threw away two bags of salad
Speaker 2: kits for no reason. I mean, there's a lot of
Speaker 2: wasted produce, a lot of wasted money. A lot of
Speaker 2: folks are tough, some people, A lot of this we
Speaker 2: don't believe you were lies. Must be nice to have
Speaker 2: the president in your pocket and take zero accountability. And look,
Speaker 2: there are a lot of people are posting the fact
Speaker 2: that they claim Taylor Farms gave a million dollars to
Speaker 2: MAGA this past spring, and they're saying that. So the
Speaker 2: amount of my point is, no one trusts Taylor Farms,
Speaker 2: no one trusts the government.
Speaker 3: One person put up there.
Speaker 2: The CEO and the FDA commissioner should eat a random
Speaker 2: bag of Taylor lettuce from the shelf on camera live.
Speaker 3: Then I'll believe them.
Speaker 1: That would be awesome. That is a brilliant freaking idea.
Speaker 1: It's low risk for whoever's eating it. I mean, the
Speaker 1: chances are right.
Speaker 3: That was my favorite post. That's what I wanted to do.
Speaker 2: Good. The CEO of Taylor Farms and the FDA commissioners
Speaker 2: should eat a random bag of Taylor letters from the
Speaker 2: shelf on camera live.
Speaker 1: What would you do? How could you help this situation?
Speaker 1: Just throw a slid brunch something major. Oh that's a
Speaker 1: good idea.
Speaker 2: Uh yes, so look, we will wait to hear more
Speaker 2: from officials, But the problem is, even once we do,
Speaker 2: are they going to be believed? What we are at
Speaker 2: a place now where I think this is the lowest
Speaker 2: I've ever seen in terms of trust, trust for anyone
Speaker 2: and with anyone, and including every single government agency right now,
Speaker 2: and this is of serious public health concern.
Speaker 1: I'd listen to Fauci right now. And who is the
Speaker 1: lady that had the scars all the time the doctor
Speaker 1: was he? I would listen to her right now on
Speaker 1: this one. They would be great. Nobody's dying? Have this
Speaker 1: country not a problem? Oh my goodness, Yes, that's all.
Speaker 1: We just need a voice, trusted voice, I say, a
Speaker 1: trusted voice. I would just say a trusted position, or
Speaker 1: a trusted uniform, or a trusted something we don't have
Speaker 1: to even know as a whole background. We need someone
Speaker 1: in a position of authority that we go, okay, this
Speaker 1: isn't a partisan bullshit, or we can listen.
Speaker 2: I don't know what that They have a huge pr
Speaker 2: problem right now and public health including you know RFK
Speaker 2: Junior as controversial as all as all of his statements
Speaker 2: have been.
Speaker 3: And look, I really like, who do we look to,
Speaker 3: Who is the medical voice of reason? Who is that
Speaker 3: public health official who we can and I'll.
Speaker 2: Say, okay, we're getting it straight from this person, from
Speaker 2: the head of the Health and Human Services who is
Speaker 2: probably one of the biggest lightning rods in terms of
Speaker 2: political discourse. I mean, who do we look to at
Speaker 2: this point? I don't think we have the answer.
Speaker 1: We haven't heard from.
Speaker 3: Where's doctor Oze? Where are they?
Speaker 2: Someone needs to come out from this administration and make
Speaker 2: some sense of all of these confusing headlines.
Speaker 3: This is a disaster.
Speaker 1: But then you'd be the face of cyclospora.
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe you could just be the voice of
Speaker 2: it right yes, it of public health and trust and
Speaker 2: there's a void right now and folks are really really
Speaker 2: looking for some answers. We'll continue to stay on top
Speaker 2: of the story as it continues to change hour by hour.
Speaker 2: We always appreciate you listening to us, every one. I'm
Speaker 2: Amy Roboch alongside DJ Holmes.
Speaker 3: We'll talk to you some.
Speaker 1: Man. Tim