Taylor Farms’ connections to Trump admin spurs probe into Cyclospora response

Taylor Farms 与特朗普政府的关联引发对环孢子虫疫情应对的调查

As Americans cook their vegetables to at least 158°F to kill a diarrheal parasite that has sickened over 24,000 people and killed two this summer, one US Senator is turning up the heat on Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over the government’s “calamitous response” to the record outbreak. 随着美国民众为了杀死一种导致今年夏天超过 2.4 万人患病、2 人死亡的腹泻寄生虫，不得不将蔬菜加热至至少 158°F（约 70°C），一位美国参议员正就政府对此次创纪录疫情的“灾难性应对”向卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）施压。

In a letter sent Thursday, Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the federal response to the Cyclospora outbreak “botched” and “marred by missteps.” She pointedly questioned whether corruption and incompetence within the Trump administration and its clear ties to Taylor Farms—the mammoth produce distributer that sold Mexican-grown iceberg lettuce linked to the outbreak—played a role in the federal government’s failures. 在周四发出的一封信中，伊丽莎白·沃伦（Elizabeth Warren，马萨诸塞州民主党参议员）称联邦政府对环孢子虫（Cyclospora）疫情的应对是“拙劣的”且“充满了失误”。她尖锐地质疑，特朗普政府内部的腐败和无能，及其与 Taylor Farms——这家销售与疫情有关的墨西哥产卷心莴苣的巨型农产品分销商——之间明确的利益关联，是否在联邦政府的失职中扮演了角色。

“[P]olitical contributions and direct White House lobbying from Taylor Farms… raise urgent questions about the role this influence-peddling may have played in loosening federal food safety oversight and hampering the federal government’s response to the outbreak,” Warren wrote in the letter. 沃伦在信中写道：“Taylor Farms 的政治捐款和直接针对白宫的游说……引发了关于这种权钱交易在放松联邦食品安全监管以及阻碍联邦政府应对疫情方面可能起到何种作用的紧急质疑。”

As Ars Technica has previously reported, Taylor Farms made a $1 million donation to a Trump-backing super PAC, MAGA, Inc, in March 2025. That donation came just days after the Food and Drug Administration announced it was delaying implementing a food traceability rule that would have made it easier to trace and respond to outbreaks, like the Cyclospora outbreak. 正如 Ars Technica 此前报道的那样，Taylor Farms 在 2025 年 3 月向支持特朗普的超级政治行动委员会“MAGA, Inc”捐赠了 100 万美元。这笔捐款发生在美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA）宣布推迟实施一项食品溯源规则的几天后，而该规则本可以使追踪和应对环孢子虫疫情等突发事件变得更加容易。

Warren’s letter noted other donations to Trump-aligned entities from Taylor Farms and said the contributions totaled into the millions. She further pointed out that Taylor Farms has hired former Trump White House official Trent Morse to lobby on behalf of the company. Morse reportedly brokered a direct call between Taylor Farms and the White House after the FDA had linked the company’s lettuce to the outbreak. In the call, Taylor Farms allegedly made an “urgent plea” to delay a recall of the tainted lettuce. 沃伦的信中还提到了 Taylor Farms 对其他亲特朗普实体的捐款，并称捐款总额达数百万美元。她进一步指出，Taylor Farms 已聘请前特朗普白宫官员特伦特·莫尔斯（Trent Morse）代表公司进行游说。据报道，在 FDA 将该公司的莴苣与疫情联系起来后，莫尔斯促成了 Taylor Farms 与白宫之间的一次直接通话。在通话中，Taylor Farms 据称提出了推迟召回受污染莴苣的“紧急请求”。

Clear delay

明显的延误

Warren also noted a significant lingering question about the federal government’s response. Local media outlets reported that Taco Bell restaurants in Michigan and nearby states began pulling iceberg lettuce from their menus as early as July 7. Notices at the restaurant said they were unable to sell the produce “due to a nationwide recall.” But at the time, no recall had been reported by federal agencies. 沃伦还指出了联邦政府应对措施中一个悬而未决的重大问题。当地媒体报道称，密歇根州及周边州的塔可钟（Taco Bell）餐厅早在 7 月 7 日就开始将卷心莴苣从菜单中撤下。餐厅的通知称，由于“全国范围内的召回”，他们无法销售该农产品。但当时，联邦机构尚未发布任何召回公告。

On July 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the outbreak as being from an “unknown source.” The CDC and the FDA did not identify lettuce at certain Taco Bell locations as a source until July 17. The same day, Taylor Farms issued a recall, and the FDA published the recall notice on July 18. The recall notice did not include details or clear information about how much lettuce was being recalled or where it had been shipped. An FDA report identified this week found that Taco Bell’s parent company received just 2.5 percent of the tainted lettuce, with the rest going elsewhere. Walmart received 46 percent of the recalled cases. 7 月 14 日，美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）报告称疫情来源“不明”。直到 7 月 17 日，CDC 和 FDA 才确定某些塔可钟门店的莴苣是传染源。同一天，Taylor Farms 发布了召回通知，FDA 于 7 月 18 日公布了该通知。召回通知中并未包含关于召回莴苣的具体数量或发货地点的详细信息。本周的一份 FDA 报告显示，塔可钟的母公司仅接收了 2.5% 的受污染莴苣，其余部分流向了其他地方。沃尔玛（Walmart）接收了 46% 的被召回产品。

Warren’s letter also questioned confusion about the FDA reporting that Taylor Farms’ lettuce had tested positive for Cyclospora, only to retract the claim the next day, calling it a false positive. Taylor Farms then claimed the FDA had apologized to it, which the FDA quickly denied. Warren posed a series of questions to Kennedy, including whether Taylor Farms or a Trump political appointee pressed the FDA to reevaluate the test result, leading to the retraction. She is also seeking transcripts, summaries, and notes from communications between federal agencies and Taylor Farms. 沃伦的信还质疑了 FDA 此前报告称 Taylor Farms 的莴苣环孢子虫检测呈阳性，但次日又撤回该说法并称其为“假阳性”所引发的混乱。Taylor Farms 随后声称 FDA 已向其道歉，但 FDA 迅速予以否认。沃伦向肯尼迪提出了一系列问题，包括 Taylor Farms 或特朗普的政治任命官员是否曾向 FDA 施压要求重新评估检测结果，从而导致了撤回声明。她还要求获取联邦机构与 Taylor Farms 之间沟通的记录、摘要和笔记。

“[T]he specter of corruption—and quid pro quo politics—casts a darker shadow” over the outbreak response than simply dangerously bad food safety policies from the Trump administration, Warren wrote. 沃伦写道：“腐败的幽灵——以及权钱交易的政治——比特朗普政府单纯糟糕的食品安全政策，为此次疫情的应对蒙上了更阴暗的阴影。”

In a statement to The Hill, a Taylor Farms spokesperson said that the company “acts in the interest of science and consumer health, not politics. We categorically reject suggestions that we attempted to receive or received favorable regulatory treatment due to political contributions or other improper influence. Any such allegations are false.” 在给《国会山报》（The Hill）的一份声明中，Taylor Farms 的发言人表示，该公司“是出于科学和消费者健康的利益行事，而非政治。我们断然拒绝有关我们试图通过政治捐款或其他不正当影响来获取或已经获得优惠监管待遇的说法。任何此类指控都是虚假的。”

A Health Department spokesperson told the outlet that the federal government’s investigations into the outbreak “were not impacted by staffing changes or reductions in force. Political contributions or relationships have no bearing on FDA or CDC outbreak investigations.” 卫生部的一位发言人告诉该媒体，联邦政府对此次疫情的调查“并未受到人事变动或裁员的影响。政治捐款或人际关系对 FDA 或 CDC 的疫情调查没有任何影响。”