Nestle Toll House Cookie Recall: The E. Coli Mystery

Although Nestle has recalled some 300,000 cases of its refrigerated Toll House cookie dough from store shelves, as of June 22, 2009, none of their product had actually tested positive for the E. coli that’s caused illness in at least 70 people in 30 states. And since it’s highly unusual for E. coli, an intestinal bacterium of cattle (i.e., it’s in their feces) to be present in something like cookie dough, investigators are so far at a loss to explain exactly what is going on. But, since all of the people who became sick ate the same raw cookie dough product, it seems obvious that it’s the cookie dough that’s to blame. The question is, from where did the E. coli come? If it were inadequately cooked hamburgers that were responsible, it would be easy to link E. coli with beef mishandled during processing. In fact, according to an article in The Washington Post, because the presence of E. coli is so unusual in something like cookie dough, “investigators are looking at a broad range of possible factors, analyzing the ingredients, the plant’s equipment and interior, the health of workers and whether the facility is located near cattle. Federal officials are also considering whether the dough might have been intentionally contaminated.” Of course, none of these factors has stopped the nearly immediate filing of lawsuits against Nestle, such as this suit in San Carlos, Calif.  I’ve also seen Google ads already appearing from law ...
Source: Dr. Z's Medical Report - Category: Physicians With Health Advice Authors: Tags: Healthy Living bacteria beef blog CDC cookie dough Dr Z Dr. Z's medical report E.Coli Ed Zimeny Everyday Health feces food health blog health safety ice cream illness investigation lawsuit medblog mystery Nestle T Source Type: blogs