Recall of Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough Products

Recently, Nestle USA voluntarily recalled its Toll House packaged raw cookie dough products, due to concerns about E. coli. E. coli can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea, and kidney failure. It can be deadly. The Centers for Disease Control have found a "strong association" between the cookie dough and the E. coli sickness suffered by 65 people who have tested positive for the bacterium since March. The identified sick people live in 29 states, and while some of them have been hospitalized with their illness, none have died.

The FDA advised consumers to discard any Toll House cookie dough products that they have, and requested that restaurants, retailers and food service providers not sell any of the refrigerated cookie dough products. According to the FDA, consumers should not try to cook the Toll House cookie dough products, because even though the cooked cookies may be safe to eat, the E. coli could be spread by the consumer’s hands. The recall affects about 300,000 cases of cookie dough, including refrigerated cookie bar dough, cookie dough tubes, and cookie dough tubs. However, Toll House ice cream containing raw cookie dough is not affected by the recall. Nestle USA has said that it is temporarily halting production of the cookie dough products, while its Ohio factory is investigated by the FDA.