After all, E. coli is a bacterium normally found in cow intestines. That's why contamination cases generally occur either in beef products, or fruits and vegetables fertilized with manure (or otherwise cross-contaminated.) So how did it get there? Nestlé doesn't know. Neither do the FDA or the CDC.
Health officials still do not know how E. coli 0157, a bacterium that lives in cattle intestines, ended up in a product that seems so unlikely to contain it. The risk usually associated with cookie dough is salmonella, a bacterium that can be found in raw eggs. None of the ingredients in the dough — eggs, milk, flour, chocolate, butter — is known to host E. coli 0157.
Federal investigators spent more than a week at the Danville plant and did not detect contamination in the equipment or among workers, Acheson said. "It raises the likelihood that it was an ingredient," he said. "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."
So be sure to eye your flour, butter, sugar, eggs, and chocolate chips suspiciously until this situation is resolved.
Incidentally, this paragraph in the Post story caught our eye:
Nearly all the victims, most of whom are female and younger than 19, reported eating raw cookie dough in the days before the onset of symptoms.
Because the ladies love raw cookie dough! Reports did not indicate whether any of the victims had recently been through a rough breakup, but we can infer.
In all seriousness, some of the victims are now severely ill, and we wish them a full recovery and for authorities to figure out what caused this.
E. Coli Confirmed In Nestlé Samples [Washington Post]
Cookie dough at Nestlé plant tests positive for E. coli [Consumer Reports]
(Photos: pyntofmyld)
]]>I worked in a locally owned pizza shop for a while and kept having to try to call off because of vomiting and bloody diarrhea. They made me come in and work in the kitchen in that condition for weeks. Lucky for them it turned out that the cause of my problems was cancer and not some sort of bacteria that I could have passed on accidentally (since 95% of the time there was no soap in the employee bathroom).
They felt pretty awful when I came in with a drainage bag attached to my lung and told them I had to quit since I had to go into treatment for the cancer though.
]]>Stranger things have happened.
]]>but a lazy plant worker seems most likely to me too.
]]>@HogwartsAlum: Wow. It takes all of 15 minutes and requires ingredients most people should have on hand. And you really want it raw, make it with pasteurized egg substitute (I do this all the time for DIY cookie dough ice cream).
]]>That's because people are WAY too lazy to make their own cookies.
]]>Of course, I just got back from Korea last month from my brother's wedding, and every other meal was a big family style event with korean beef tartar... mmmm.
]]>@lockdog: Exactly. Though it also bothers me that something so easy to make (7-8 ingredients) has to be processed.
]]>I was making a distinction between reservoir hosts and other hosts (ones that get ill). I didn't use those terms before since I doubt everyone here has an infectious disease ecology background.
]]>When you treat human beings like so many cattle in a feed lot, it should not surprise you that they begin to suffer from the diseases of, well, cattle in a feedlot.
]]>@Skeetz:
@SacraBos: @swearint: @Razorgirl:
My hats off to all 4 of you for fitting in Demolition Man refrences in eachs only special way que retarted Timmy clap and yea!
]]>Disgruntled worker? Joke gone bad?
Those are not chocolate chips in the dough. Ewwww.
]]>130° for beef is Pittsburgh rare. It's about the temperature of a Phoenix springtime sidewalk. Medium steak is 160°.
The USDA has lightened up somewhat on its standards, which are here: [www.fsis.usda.gov] But they recommend eating almost no meat under 160°.
And where did this lukewarm fish idea come from anyway? Nasty.
]]>Eggs = 160
Ground beef = 165
Steak = 130
Chicken = 165
Turkey = 165
Most fish = 140
Tuna & other large fish = 125
Sushi!??!! = I want to meet the chef and I want to see the receipt indicating date of purchase.
You can not tell if something is done by the way it looks. It is very possible to char the outside of a burger and leave the inside still teaming with bacteria.
]]>Milk is pasteurized also E. coli does not survive well in milk.
]]>Yes but that employee would have been noticeably sick and they would have been identified during the investigation. The primary symptom of E. coli O157:H7 is bloody diarrhea.
I am guessing this came from some other ingredient.
]]>I bet it was one of those Chik-fil-a cows, they're always trying to get us to eat less cow products and "mor chikn" and everyone knows that cookies go well with milk. So yeah, either the cows or Col. Mustard in the Kitchen with the Meadow-muffin would be my guesses, I'll draft my report to the CDC in a few...
]]>... however, Taco Bell employees will still refrain from using any of the above methods of personal hygiene.
]]>@Skeetz: A the cookie dough will be made by Taco Bell, or did that only apply to restaurants?
]]>Which means that if it's a human source, it came from signifcantly further up the supply chain.
]]>Salmonella would be unsurprising, as eggs have a known risk. E. coli is quite surprising.
]]>Hmmn, since Nestle's chocolate contains MILK FAT and salmonella lives in the guts of cows, hard to believe the FDA & CDC are just stumped.
Nestle's Semi-Sweet Morsels contain:
INGREDIENTS: SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE (SUGAR, CHOCOLATE, COCOA BUTTER, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLIN - AN ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, NATURAL FLAVOR).
[www.verybestbaking.com]
(Don't scold, in all caps on their website)
]]>Well lets say there's this employee that becomes grossly overweight from sampeling the cookie dough over the years. And this employee decides to start taking Alli in a fruitless attempt to lose weight. Said employee prepares for the side effects by wearing prescription underware and double knit Farrah slacks. During one particulary violent explosive oily wet fart the protective clothing can't quite contain the emission and the greasy discharge is atomized as it passes through the triple barrier. This invisible but deadly cloud passes over the production line and the fallout contaminates the cookie dough.
Hey it's possible!
I do too. Especially those little premade squares. Eating 2 or 3 of those at 1 am while the wife sleeps is the definition of bliss.
]]>either way, someone was stirring in some brown.
]]>Years later a cleaner, and more scientific, style of wiping ones bottom will come in the form of 3 sea shells. E Coli will subsequently become a thing of the past.
On a side note, In a futuristic jam swearing like a sailor will dispense to you the correct amount of paper to wipe. (You will have to wash your hands afterwards though)
]]>Husband recently was eating Nestle's cookie dough. I told him about this, he just shrugged and kept on eating it. Needless to say I was kind of grossed out.
(I'll be making my own cookie dough to eat from now on, thankyouverymuch...)
I also found it interesting that a huge percentage of the people getting sick were female. Had no idea that girls/women were more likely to eat cookie dough than men...
]]>Does the 0157 strain of E. coli live in all mammals or just cows?
]]>Either way, it's an employee problem that can only be solved by putting the sinks where supervisors can watch them wash up.
]]>Gross man...
]]>E. coli (the species name stays lowercase) is found in the guts of many, many mammals, and humans are no exception. The idea that it's mostly found in cow poop is erroneous; it's an important commensal enteric species, since it makes vitamins for the host (us included).
Most likely, a human pooped, didn't wash hands, and continued to work the industrial dough mixer or flour-bagger or sugar dispenser, etc.
(takes off Microbiologist hat)
Haw! You said cow poop.
]]>Meh, Chips are Chips.
]]>Why yes, I did find this out the hard way!
]]>