Your presence on this thread is required. Are you raw or baked? LOL!
Posted on 06/19/2009 12:05:37 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
(There's a toll to eating raw cookie dough.)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told consumers today not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough because the products could be contaminated with a potentially deadly form of E. coli.
Since March, at least 66 people from 28 states have gotten sick after eating the dough. Of those, 25 people were hospitalized and seven developed a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, which leads to kidney damage and lifetime health issues and is often responsible for E. coli illness deaths. So far, there are no documented deaths from the outbreak, according to the CDC.
Nestle, a Swiss food giant that runs its U.S. operations out of Glendale, has launched a voluntary recall of all varieties of Nestle Toll House refrigerated dough, including Cookie Bar Dough, Cookie Dough Tub, Cookie Dough Tube, Limited Edition Cookie Dough items, Seasonal Cookie Dough and Ultimates Cookie Bar Dough. The recall extends beyond chocolate-chip cookies to all flavors.
"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. We have been and will continue to cooperate fully with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control in this investigation. Providing safe, high quality products to our consumers is our No. 1 priority," the company said in a statement.
Consumers with questions should contact Nestle Consumer Services at (800) 559-5025 or visit its website at www.verybestbaking.com. For more information on safe food handling practices, go to www.fda.gov.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimesblogs.latimes.com ...
“We want to strongly advise consumers that raw cookie dough should not be eaten. This message also appears prominently on our packaging. Nestle Toll House cookies made from refrigerated dough are safe to consume when baked as directed on the package,” Nestle said. The FDA, though, said consumers shouldn’t eat cookies made from the dough because the bacteria could transfer to hands and preparation surfaces.
The strain of pathogen connected to the outbreak, E. coli O157:H7, causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and a diarrheal illness, often with bloody stools. Most healthy adults recover within a week, but young children and the elderly risk developing complications from the illness, the FDA said.
Periodic E. coli outbreaks linked to spinach, lettuce and ground beef have sickened thousands and caused at least a dozen deaths in recent years.
The agency warned people who have recently eaten prepackaged, refrigerated Toll House cookie dough and experienced digestive illness to contact their doctor.
Critics of federal food safety efforts immediately jumped on this latest outbreak as an example of lax regulations. They said it was another example of why Congress should move quickly to adopt the Food Safety Enhancement Act.
On Wednesday, a key House panel approved the legislation, which gives regulators greater power to safeguard nation’s food supply.
The Energy and Commerce Committee gave its nod to the act. The legislation would give the FDA the power to force recalls of tainted foods — the Nestle recall is technically voluntary — and increases the frequency of inspections at food plants. It also allows the FDA to impose civil penalties on companies that ignore safety regulations.
The House will now consider the legislation. It has yet to be taken up in the Senate.
“If there was anyone left in America who didn’t realize we need to reform the food safety functions at the Food and Drug Administration, this latest recall of Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough provides a sobering wake-up call,” said Sarah Klein, an attorney with the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.
“For too long the agency has lacked the authority and the resources it needs to inspect food processing facilities, issue mandatory recalls, and punish violators. Once again the agency is forced to react after illnesses are already occurring, when the focus should be on preventing contamination in the first place,” Klein said.
The legislation does not apply to meat, poultry and eggs, which are under Department of Agriculture jurisdiction.
How on Earth have I lived to nearly 48 years of age?
I can’t remember a time in my life when I haven’t eaten raw cookie dough or licked a cake batter bowl, LOL!
Isn’t raw cookie dough the tasty ingredient in cookie dough flavored ice cream? Who hasn’t licked the cookie dough bowl before Mom tossed it in the sink?
But its so good. :(
Quoting a line from the terrific TV show Burn Notice, I have a message for the government:
I WANT YOU PEOPLE OUT OF MY LIFE!
This sounds like it would make a good plot for a House MD show.
In other news, the nations butchers are recalling all uncooked meat they sold.
What a bunch of maroons.
Cookie dough used for ice cream is specially formulated to be safely eaten raw. Pasteurized eggs, etc.
There has always been a big “do not eat” warning on store bought dough.
With safe and effective food irradiation, you can eat as much raw cookie dough as you want. Unfortunately, Americans find that all scary and stuff. Americans would rather die of food poisoning, I guess.
NO RAW COOKIE DOUGH.
NO RAW FISH.
NO RAW OYSTERS....................
I was cutting up a costco tenderloin and eating raw chunks last week. I do it all the time. Other than the worms I can feel crawling around inside me I feel fine.
Eating Raw chocolate chip cookie dough is always risky due to the egg. There is always a chance a raw egg can have selmonella.
E-COLI though, thats a contamination beyond the original ingredients.
my lucky day....I put the nestle toll house cookie dough back and picked up the pillsbury peanut butter cookie dough....that was close. LOL
I agree all raw foods should be irradiated, particularly if they are shipped in from a foreign country. But people are idiots and are scared of the name.
I want a government that stays out of my wallet and off my back.
Sadly, the only way I’m going to get it is if blood runs in the streets.
Me too. Or is that me either. Anyway, yeah, what you said.
“This sounds like it would make a good plot for a House MD show.”
My husband is hooked on that show. The few times I’ve watched it with him, the writing has always been superb. Of course, I have no idea if the medical data is correct, but it sounds good, LOL!
I would be happy if there was even a brand of foods that chose to do that and labeled it clearly. Then I could buy my food from that company and everyone else who is uninformed can continue to roll the dice with un-irradiated food and meat.
Well, E Coli comes from a certain place,
and if you don’t expose your cookie dough to that,
you probably won’t have E Coli in it...
Well, the difference might be that Mom’s cookie dough came from fresh ingredients that weren’t sitting around as long as the premade stuff. Just a guess, I don’t know what the shelf life is, but if it were contaminated when it was made there is quite a bit of time for things to percolate in it. Mom on the other hand made the dough, slapped your hand away and baked the cookies.
It’s one of my guilty pleasures!
Probably the old devil you know verses the devil you don’t (altho I agree with you about irradiation).
How about Cannibal Sandwiches? I grew up on those as a kid. No Wedding or Wake was complete without them, and we kids were crazy for them.
Freshly Ground Steak, Raw
Small Rye Bread rounds
Gobs of chopped onion
Gobs of salt & pepper
Nothin’ else like it in the world. :)
Yeah, makes you wonder about the hygiene of the people making it.
Are they sure it is E. coli? That description is virtually indistinguishable from the results of being forced to watch a "presidential" speech.
The very first House hubby and I watched, I correctly guessed the malady (it so happened it was a parasitic infection we had seen a video about in the biology class I taught). Ever afterwards my better half thinks I’m a genius! I love that show! ;)
Your presence on this thread is required. Are you raw or baked? LOL!
It always helps to marry a man who thinks you’re a genius, LOL!
LOL Raw or baked?? hmmmm...couldn’t complain either way!
I’m sure he always suspected it... :)
The type of E-Coli that can kill you didn’t exist until 1975, and wasn’t recognized as a life threatening illness until an outbreak in 1982.
So if you are basically in your 30s or older, no one would have questioned eating raw cow as a child.
Frankly, I’ve always found steak tar tar disgusting. I’ll enjoy a cooked hamburger, but purely raw ground meat no thanks.
Though I admit I do miss having hamburgers medium, but its too risky now that 0157:H7 is commonplace out there. 1 small contamination can get into thousands of pounds of meat easily.
The moral of this story is make your own dough, which will be way better than this store bought stuff.
I’m certain the “cookie dough” in ice cream doesn’t contain egg.
My wife has dragged me to a few of those murder mystery dinner theater things. I’ve won every single time... I usually have it figured out before the first act.
Needless to say I don’t watch much entertainment in the way of “mysteries” because I usually have it figured out within 5 to 10 minutes.
My wife thinks I’m a genius, I think I just watched too much TV as a child. There are just so many plot twists that writers will use. I also figured out the “I see dead people” by the second scene that had Bruce Willis and the boy in it. I truly couldn’t believe so many people were fooled by that movie.
And I really really could hold back my contempt for his movie Signs or whatever it was, I figured it out early, but come on advanced beings decide to invade earth a planet that is 70% covered with water, and come across the vastness of space to then roam around the planet with no protection for the thing on it that’s deadly to them and abundantly pleantiful.
Needless to say, I really don’t watch a lot of TV, particularly with my wife. She gets mad that I know the ending so quickly in.
Those were the days when food was safe and cars were dangerous............
I’ve bought packages of cookie dough and sometimes none of it made it into the oven. I never got sick from it.
Ouch. Don't remind me of that part.
Wow! I truly am a serious survivor. The list of things I’ve done since I was a kid that according to the experts should have killed me before the age of 10 is astonishing. Maybe the key is that I never listened to the experts.
Well of course we are eating the dough... duh. What you are supposed to COOK it? No wai.... ruins the FLAVOR man....
This is not verbatim, but “I want a house on Star Island full of bikinis and beer but wishing won’t make it so”. I love the Sam and Mikey show. I’d put them up against Jack Bauer, anytime.
Much of the research on irradiation of food was done by the army back in the early 70s. I was a research assistant on one of the sub-projects when I was studying microbiology in school. Irradiation is perfectly safe and is in use (shhhh) for many chicken products today. The research showed that you wiped out any chance of E-Coli etc. and one of the examples of the overall army project was that you could irradiate and vacumn shrinkwrap a steak for instance, throw it unrefrigerated on the shelf for several years and when opened it was every bit as fresh as the day it was cut.
You sound like a fun date... ;)
Yeah, but isn’t that a memory in all of our heads?? ;)
Cooking destroys all 3. :(
Good one! Got me laughing at my cube!
Wow! Thanks so much!!!
*** opening credits ***
"It's some strange disease, run tests."
"Tests say it's not some strange disease, it must be cancer, run tests."
"Tests say it's not cancer, it must be an infection, run tests."
"Tests say it's not an infection, the patient must be LYING TO US about something!"
(harsh interrogation of patient and/or illegal ransacking of patient's house)
"Well House you've done it again!"
*** closing credits ***
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