Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough Recall: Don't Eat the Cookie Dough!

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?).