Taylor Farms Spent Big on MAGA and Anti-Regulatory Lobbying Before Diarrhea Outbreak
Taylor Farms Spent Big on MAGA and Anti-Regulatory Lobbying Before Diarrhea Outbreak
在腹泻疫情爆发前，Taylor Farms 在 MAGA 和反监管游说上投入巨资
The lettuce supplier at the center of the turbo diarrhea outbreak has spent millions of dollars to sway sentiment around food regulation and elect Donald Trump and other MAGA Republicans, according to public filings. 根据公开文件显示，这家处于“超级腹泻”疫情中心的生菜供应商，已投入数百万美元用于左右食品监管舆论，并资助唐纳德·特朗普及其他“让美国再次伟大”（MAGA）共和党人的竞选活动。
Taylor Farms donated more than $2 million to conservative political groups in 2025, according to Federal Election Commission filings. That includes a $1 million donation to MAGA Inc., the Trump-centric super PAC, and $1.1 million to other super PACs dedicated to electing Republicans. 根据联邦选举委员会的文件，Taylor Farms 在 2025 年向保守派政治团体捐赠了超过 200 万美元。其中包括向以特朗普为核心的超级政治行动委员会（Super PAC）“MAGA Inc.”捐赠了 100 万美元，并向其他致力于选举共和党人的超级政治行动委员会捐赠了 110 万美元。
From 2020 through the end of 2024, the company donated more than $1.6 million to conservative PACs, including a total of $850,000 to AFP Action, an anti-regulation super PAC with ties to the Koch network. 从 2020 年到 2024 年底，该公司向保守派政治行动委员会捐赠了超过 160 万美元，其中包括向与科赫（Koch）网络有关联的反监管超级政治行动委员会“AFP Action”总计捐赠了 85 万美元。
Bruce Taylor, the chairman and CEO of Taylor Farms, is also a longtime donor to Republican causes. Since 2020, Taylor has personally donated more than $900,000 to Republican PACs and candidates, including contributions to Texas senator John Cornyn and Tennessee senator Marsha Blackburn. Taylor Farms 的董事长兼首席执行官布鲁斯·泰勒（Bruce Taylor）也是共和党事业的长期捐助者。自 2020 年以来，泰勒个人已向共和党政治行动委员会和候选人捐赠了超过 90 万美元，其中包括向德克萨斯州参议员约翰·科宁（John Cornyn）和田纳西州参议员玛莎·布莱克本（Marsha Blackburn）提供的捐款。
Like many corporate giants, Taylor Farms has also spent big on lobbying related to industry regulation. In early 2025, it hired lobbyists at the firm Sidley Austin to advocate on behalf of the company on “regulation of food safety,” according to disclosure documents. Since then, the company has spent $810,000 on its lobbying efforts. 像许多企业巨头一样，Taylor Farms 也在与行业监管相关的游说活动上投入了巨资。根据披露文件，2025 年初，该公司聘请了盛德律师事务所（Sidley Austin）的游说者，代表公司就“食品安全监管”进行游说。此后，该公司在游说工作上已花费了 81 万美元。
Marion Nestle, a food policy expert, said that Taylor Farms’ donations are part of a wider problem in the American food industry: that multibillion-dollar companies use their financial resources to push policies that would reduce food safety regulation and accountability when outbreaks occur. 食品政策专家马里昂·内斯特尔（Marion Nestle）表示，Taylor Farms 的捐款是美国食品行业更广泛问题的一部分：即数十亿美元规模的公司利用其财力推动政策，旨在减少食品安全监管，并在疫情爆发时逃避问责。
“The FDA has regulations in place for what food producers are supposed to be doing, but nobody wants to do it—because it’s expensive and difficult,” Nestle told WIRED. “FDA 针对食品生产商应尽的义务制定了相关法规，但没人愿意执行——因为这既昂贵又困难，”内斯特尔告诉《连线》（WIRED）杂志。
In a post on X, the US Department of Health and Human Services emphasized that Taylor Farms’ political donations did not influence the Trump administration’s response to the cyclospora outbreak. 美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS）在 X 平台上发文强调，Taylor Farms 的政治捐款并未影响特朗普政府对圆孢子虫（cyclospora）疫情的应对。
“This is how the FAKE NEWS works: imply collusion, ignore the facts,” the HHS account posted on Monday. “Nothing influences our decisions except science and the safety of the American people.” “这就是‘假新闻’的运作方式：暗示勾结，无视事实，”HHS 账号周一发文称，“除了科学和美国人民的安全，没有任何东西能影响我们的决策。”
Taylor Farms has apparently taken issue with the CDC’s and FDA’s handling of the investigation into the current cyclospora outbreak, which has sickened thousands of people across multiple states. The company recently claimed that the FDA “apologized” after announcing a false-positive test of a sample of Taylor Farms’ lettuce; the FDA told reporters that no, actually, an official apology never happened. (The company did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment.) Taylor Farms 显然对美国疾控中心（CDC）和 FDA 处理当前圆孢子虫疫情调查的方式表示不满，该疫情已导致多个州数千人患病。该公司最近声称，在宣布 Taylor Farms 的一份生菜样本检测结果为假阳性后，FDA 曾“道歉”；但 FDA 告诉记者，事实并非如此，官方从未道歉。（该公司未回应《连线》的置评请求。）
Prior to the false positive and the non-apology, Taylor Farms executives met with White House and FDA officials to discuss what a spokesperson for the company called “shortfalls” in the government agencies’ response. The New York Times reported that the meeting followed Taylor Farms’ recent hire of Trent Morse, the former deputy director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, who left the Trump administration to start a government relations firm in September. 在假阳性事件和“非道歉”事件之前，Taylor Farms 的高管曾与白宫和 FDA 官员会面，讨论公司发言人所称的政府机构应对措施中的“不足之处”。《纽约时报》报道称，此次会面发生在 Taylor Farms 最近聘请了特伦特·莫尔斯（Trent Morse）之后，莫尔斯曾任白宫总统人事办公室副主任，他于 9 月离开特朗普政府并创办了一家政府关系公司。
The recent diarrhea debacle is not the first time that Taylor Farms, which brings in roughly $7 billion in annual revenue, has drawn the focus of federal regulators. 最近的腹泻风波并非 Taylor Farms（年收入约 70 亿美元）首次引起联邦监管机构的关注。
In 2013, the FDA named Taylor Farms as a source of a cyclospora outbreak that sickened hundreds. In 2015, the company voluntarily recalled multiple products containing celery because they may have been contaminated with E. coli. And in 2024, the company recalled certain yellow onions as part of an E. coli outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. Following the outbreak, CBS News reported that FDA inspectors found dozens of violations at the Colorado Taylor Farms facility linked to the Quarter Pounder outbreak, including minimal handwashing and dirty equipment. 2013 年，FDA 将 Taylor Farms 列为导致数百人患病的圆孢子虫疫情的源头。2015 年，该公司自愿召回了多种含有芹菜的产品，因为它们可能受到大肠杆菌污染。2024 年，作为与麦当劳“足尊牛肉堡”（Quarter Pounder）相关的大肠杆菌疫情的一部分，该公司召回了部分黄洋葱。疫情发生后，哥伦比亚广播公司（CBS News）报道称，FDA 检查人员在与该疫情相关的科罗拉多州 Taylor Farms 工厂发现了数十项违规行为，包括洗手次数极少和设备肮脏等。
Since 2025, the FDA has inspected 18 American plants affiliated with Taylor Farms. Three resulted in “voluntary action indicated,” which means that while violations were found, they weren’t severe enough to warrant mandatory enforcement. 自 2025 年以来，FDA 检查了 18 家隶属于 Taylor Farms 的美国工厂。其中 3 家被判定为“建议自愿采取行动”，这意味着虽然发现了违规行为，但尚未严重到需要强制执行的程度。
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited at least 21 violations in Taylor Farms facilities across the US since the start of 2025. In one particularly gruesome case, the Department of Labor fined a New Jersey facility $1.1 million due to violations. The May 2025 inspection came after an employee died after sustaining injuries cleaning an industrial blancher at the facility. 自 2025 年初以来，职业安全与健康管理局（OSHA）已在 Taylor Farms 位于全美的工厂中记录了至少 21 项违规行为。在一个特别惨痛的案例中，劳工部因违规行为对新泽西州的一家工厂处以 110 万美元的罚款。2025 年 5 月的这次检查是在一名员工因清洁工厂内的工业漂烫机受伤身亡后进行的。