EFN

The Food and Drug Administration said Monday that a sample of raw cookie dough collected from the Nestle’s plant in Danville, that E. coli has been found in a sample of Nestle Toll House cookie dough collected on June 25th.

David Acheson, FDA’s assistant commissioner for food safety told the press that investigators did not discover the E coli in the factory itself or on equipment in the factory only in a tub of chocolate cookie dough that had been made there in February.

Acheson, went on to say, “It raises the likelihood that it was an ingredient. And it really means that industry has to be constantly vigilant, because foods we think of as low risk could be contaminated with a deadly pathogen.”

To date, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated there have been 69 people from 29 states who have been infected with the food borne illness. Of those, 34 have been hospitalized, nine with a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome. No one has died.

E. coli O157:H7 can cause diarrhea and dehydration. Kids, the seniors and those with weak immune systems are the most at risk.

Nestle voluntarily recalled the products earlier this month, and consumers can return to their local grocer for a full refund.