'Not standard' for Taylor Farms to ask White House to delay cyclospora recall, ex-FDA head says

Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr Scott Gottlieb said on Sunday that it was "not standard operating procedure" for Taylor Farms to ask the White House to intervene as the company prepared to announce a recall tied to a huge cyclospora outbreak. Appearing on CBS's Face the Nation, Gottlieb was asked about a report from the Wall Street Journal that Taylor Farms contacted the White House seeking to delay a recall announcement. "It was not standard operating procedure," Gottlieb said. "And it wasn't standard operating procedure when I was at FDA." "I dealt with outbreaks in romaine lettuce and spinach as well, E coli in spinach and romaine lettuce. I never heard from the White House on those things, other than to have discussions to inform them of what we were doing, so that they were properly briefed and could respond to questions that they were getting," Gottlieb said. "So it's unusual." According to the Journal, representatives for Taylor Farms contacted the White House requesting more time before the government publicly linked the company to the outbreak. The recall associated with the cyclospora outbreak has been fraught with confusing messaging. Federal health officials have spent weeks on oscillating responses to the cyclospora outbreak, which has sickened thousands.