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Nestle Recalls Toll House Cookie Dough Products

By JANE ZHANG

WASHINGTON -- Federal health officials warned consumers not to eat raw or baked prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough because of E.coli infection risks.

The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with state regulators are investigating a nationwide E.coli outbreak possibly linked to the Nestle USA's Toll House products. The company voluntarily recalled the products Friday.

The FDA reported that since March, the government has received 66 reports of illness in 28 states, and that 25 people were hospitalized, including seven with a severe complication. The FDA said no one had died. Nestle USA said it hasn't found the E.coli strain implicated in the outbreak -- E.coli O157:H7 -- but the company recalled the products after the FDA told it about the investigation.

Nestle said the products involved include all Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products, ranging from chocolate-chip bars to tubs of gingerbread cookie dough. The FDA said that consumers shouldn't eat raw cookie dough or bake the Toll House products since that could risk spreading E.coli through handling or on food-preparation surfaces.

The E.coli strain can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and even death among people with weak immune systems. It is often spread by foods contaminated by cattle manure, water and other vehicles. In Colorado, health officials reported that several people ate raw cookie dough before becoming sick, and Colorado officials there said the dough might be the source of the outbreak.   "We can't be certain that raw cookie dough is the source of these infections, but we are concerned enough that it might be and want consumers to be aware," said Alicia Cronquist, the food-borne disease epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. ·

Write to Jane Zhang at Jane.Zhang@wsj.com

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