E. coli in Nestle Cookie Dough
By Kathy Will
The FDA has found E. coli O157:H7 in an unopened package of Nestle Toll House cookie dough. According to a Nestle news release:
Nestlé USA’s Baking Division was informed today by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that it has found and confirmed evidence of E. coli 0157:H7 in a retained production sample of 16.5 oz. Nestlé Toll House refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough bar. The product has a day code of 9041 and a “Best before 10 JUN 2009” notation.
Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough has been associated with an E. coli outbreak that has sickened at least 69 people in 29 states, according to the CDC:
69 persons infected with a strain of E. coli O157:H7 with a particular DNA fingerprint have been reported from 29 states. Of these, 46 have been confirmed by an advanced DNA test as having the outbreak strain; these confirmatory test results are pending on the others. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Arizona (2), California (3), Colorado (5), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Georgia (1), Iowa (2), Illinois (5), Kentucky (3), Massachusetts (4), Maryland (2), Maine (3), Minnesota (6), Missouri (1), Montana (1), North Carolina (2), New Hampshire (2), New Jersey (1), Nevada (2), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (1), Oregon (1), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (1), Texas (3), Utah (2), Virginia (2), Washington (6), and Wisconsin (1).
