Toll House cookie dough recalled, linked to E. coli

[Refugee 7]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two federal agencies warned consumers Friday not to eat raw Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough.

The company said it is recalling an estimated 300,000 cases of the dough as a precaution after reports of food-borne illness in 28 states.

There are concerns that the premade dough may be contaminated with the bacterium E. coli 0157:H7, which causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Young children and the elderly can suffer more serious symptoms.

Nestle issued a statement saying, "While the E. coli strain implicated in this investigation has not been detected in our product, the health and safety of our consumers is paramount, so we are initiating this voluntary recall."

According to Nestle spokeswoman Laurie MacDonald, raw dough was one of the things the sick people reported eating.

"The health and safety of our consumers is our No. 1 priority," she said. "We felt the best thing to do is a voluntary recall."

She said the company was informed by the FDA Wednesday night "and immediately took action."

"We really want to remind consumers that raw cookie dough should not be eaten," she said.

Since March, the CDC says, 66 people have become sick in 28 states after eating raw cookie dough. Twenty-five people were hospitalized. No one has died.

The FDA and the CDC say people who have become sick after eating refrigerated Toll House cookie dough should contact their doctors.

They advise consumers to throw out all prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products. Retailers and restaurateurs should not sell or serve any Toll House cookie dough products, the agencies said.

The company said the market share for Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough for the most recent 52-week period was 41 percent.

The recall does not include already-baked Toll House cookies, varieties of Toll House morsels, chocolate baking bars or cocoa or Dreyer's and Edy's ice cream products with Nestle Toll House cookie dough ingredients.

[Beamish 0]

This won't make me think of Tollhouse cookie dough as unsafe- it's more about knowing that you aren't supposed to eat ANY cookie dough raw (she says, knowing that she does that very thing frequently).

Btw, I thought it said on the wrapper not to eat it without baking it first- did they remove the warning ?

Edited June 20, 2009 by Beamish

[Square One 0]

uh-oh