It's comfort food. As kids, we scraped the bowls and licked it off spoons after Mom made a batch. We were thrilled when Ben and Jerry's added it as a flavor for their ice cream. And while moms were initially hesitant about letting us eat something with raw eggs (gasp!) and their plethora of disease-causing germs (double-gasp!), they eventually gave in, thinking that the chances of getting some nasty bug are probably pretty slim.

Well, lo and behold, Nestle has recalled all varieties of their prepackaged and refrigerated Toll House cookie doughs because of reports of contamination with E. coli 0157:H7.

Since March, a total of 66 people across 28 states have gotten sick, with 25 hospitalized and 7 getting a severe complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). Fortunately, no one has died yet.

E. coli O157:H7 is a common food-borne bacteria that causes bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and severe stomach cramps. While most cases resolve on their own within 5 to 7 days, about 5-10% of individuals with E. coli O157:H7 infections develop a potentially fatal complication called hemolytic-uremic syndrome, or HUS, which is characterized by kidney or renal failure and hemolytic anemia (loss of red blood cells). This condition usually occurs in children and can be quite serious, leading to permanent kidney damage or death.

So hold the raw cookie dough, please. FDA is recommending that you throw away the recalled products--even though cooking it can kill the bacteria, handling it can cause contamination of your hands and cooking surfaces.

This has been a sad week for raw food (remember the sushi?).

A recent news story reported on the dangers of eating sushi, highlighting a recent case of a patient who was found to be infected with a nine-foot tapeworm after eating raw salmon. As rare as it is to get sick from eating raw fish, such as sushi (with its ever-growing popularity), parasite infections from raw fish do happen, and the consequences can be quite alarming, as poor Mr. Anthony Franz discovered.

The entire premise sounds horrifying. Imagine inadvertently consuming a tiny, perhaps even microscopic, worm while enjoying a scrumptious, not to mention very expensive, sushi dinner. Imagine that this tiny tapeworm, a parasite known as Diphyllobothrium latum, decides to make you his next host.

He lives off of you, literally sucking you of your nutrients and energy reserves, until he grows to a shocking length of 9 feet. Stretched end-to-end, this worm was nearly as tall as a basketball hoop! According to Dr. Felipe C. Cabello, professor of Microbiology and Immunology at New York Medical College in Valhalla, these worms can grow up to 25 feet long!

It's almost like carrying a baby: it lives inside you, sucks away all your energy, and grows until it reaches a size that seems unimaginable to get out. But most people don't consider their babies parasites. And most babies get credit because of the cuteness factor. Cute parasites? I think not.

The World Health Organization today declared that the swine flu H1N1 virus has reached pandemic stage. It was inevitable, given the rate at which it was spreading. And yet, no one is really all that surprised. Or worried.

In fact, no one is donning face masks, at least here in the US.

But if you decide to head out and buy face masks, be relieved that you can do so in style. There's a new line of fashion masks. Proceeds go to Children International, a nonprofit humanitarian organization dedicated to bettering the lives of impoverished children, their families and communities. One note of caution though. These masks are intended for cosmetic/decorative use and do not offer any promise of real disease protection.

The World Health Organization has announced that a swine flu H1N1 pandemic is likely under way, but a formal announcement won't be made until there is "indisputable evidence".

As of today, there have been 27,737 confirmed cases of swine flu reported worldwide and 141 deaths attributed to the infection. The WHO has provided a map showing the distribution of cases worldwide.

Although the map clearly shows spread of the infection beyond the Americas and Europe, the WHO is hesitant to pull the trigger in declaring an official pandemic.

Why? Based on a press briefing yesterday with WHO, it isn't because swine flu H1N1 hasn't meet the criteria of pandemic (which it has, based on WHO guidelines). It's because they are concerned about the implications such an announcement would have on a person's psyche. We all remember that first week when swine flu was announced...

Here's what Dr. Keiji Fukuda of the WHO had to say:

"... declaration of Phase changes, the movement from one Phase to another, is not simply getting up in front of press cameras or making an announcement. It is again a way to prepare the world to deal with the situation, and so what is the situation?"

So if WHO declared a pandemic, would anyone care? Sure, people on the other side of the world who are now getting hit by H1N1 are a little panicked right now, but here in the U.S., no one seems to care.