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Plant That Kindled Nestle E. coli Outbreak Reopens

By PritzkerLaw

By FRED PRITZKER

Minneapolis, July 15, 2009 -- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that Nestle is back in business making and selling refrigerated cookie dought following the Nestle outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 associated with this popular and no doubt profitable product.

As of July 10, 2009, CDC reported that 76 people from 31 states have been infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7. As of that date, 35 people had been hospitalized, including 11 with a serious complication call HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome. No one has died.

The decision to start selling the product again was made despite the fact that E. coli O157:H7 was found in an unopened package of cookie dough. This strain was not the same as the outbreak strain cultured from stool samples from outbreak survivors -- meaning, most likely, that Nestle cookie dough had a least two separate strains of the deadly pathogen.

Following the June 19, 2009, warning from the FDA not to eat these products, the plant that produced them was shut down, tested and cleaned. According to today's FDA update, part of which is reprinted below, Nestle switched suppliers for the main ingredients and is now back in business producing refrigerated cookie dough:

"However, after a plant shutdown, an investigation, and a cleanup, Nestle is now using main ingredients from new suppliers and is making the cookie dough again. These newly made products are not part of the ongoing recall and are not associated with any illness outbreaks or known contamination. Consumers can identify the newly made products by looking for labels with shields that say "new batch" on them; these batches are not part of the current recall."

It's ironic that by switching suppliers and making a two-word label change, Nestle gets a "do-over'' while the outbreak victims are stuck with a long recovery, medical bills, lost wages and a terrible memory of an illness they will never forget.

It would also have been nice if Nestle and the FDA at least paid lip service to the ordeal and suffering caused by this product and offered to pay, at a minimum, out-of-pocket expenses incurred by victims.  

The writer is president and founder of Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, a national food safety law firm representing some of the victims of the Nestle E. coli cookie dough outbreak. Mr. Pritzker has been a long-time critic of America's food safety system and a repeat witness to wrongful corporate behavior during food poisoning outbreaks and other public health threats caused by manufacturers. His firm has collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of foodborne illness and it is continuing to accept cases from this outbreak. To talk to Fred or reach another E. coli  lawyer at Pritzker Olsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete one of our online consultation forms for a free case consultation.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on July 15, 2009 (boomark / email).