The Wall Street Journal reports:

Representatives for produce giant Taylor Farms contacted the White House with an urgent plea: the company wanted to delay announcing a recall tied to one of the largest foodborne illness outbreaks in U.S. history.

The call, during which the company asked for more proof and more time before being linked to the outbreak, illustrates how one of the country’s largest produce suppliers sought to limit its exposure to a public-relations nightmare, while grappling with a costly and complicated recall.

Over the past several weeks, health officials have been scrambling to contain the outbreak of cyclospora, which can cause explosive diarrhea. Some current and former government officials have criticized the handling of the outbreak, both by the administration and Taylor Farms.

Zeteo reports:

Under Donald Trump’s second administration, a lobbying group that Taylor Farms belongs to successfully pushed to delay a rule that would have helped the government more quickly trace contaminations back to specific locations – which could have helped prevent the illness at hand, cyclosporiasis, from proliferating into thousands of cases nationwide.

The Trump administration moved to delay the tracing rule last year. Several days later, Taylor Farms donated $1 million to a pro-Trump super PAC. That summer, Taylor Farms contributed another $1 million to House Republicans’ super PAC, and a few months later, Republicans in Congress enshrined the rule delay as part of a funding bill.

Separately, legal complaints and employee accounts suggest that Taylor Farms’s facilities have been host to unsanitary workplace conditions, with staff working long hours and receiving sparse breaks – conditions that experts say could foster the spread of foodborne illnesses.