At least three different types of E. coli have now been associated with Nestle cookie dough, but no one is certain which ingredient or process caused the contamination.
The latest news on the Nestle E. coli outbreak comes from ace reporter Brian Hartman of ABC News. His report today said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is nearing the finish line in its investigation of Nestle Toll House food poisoning. At least 72 people in 30 states have been sickened in the outbreak, including 34 who were hospitalized. Ten of those hospitalized were stricken with HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, a violent complication of E. coli O157:H7 disease.
Hartman cited unnamed sources close to the investigation as saying the FDA has finished its genetic testing of E. coli O157:H7 found in an unopened package of Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough found at the company’s major dough plant in Danville, Virginia. The package taken from the plant was contaminated with a different molecular subtype of E. coli than that which was found in dough taken from the home of an infected victim of the outbreak.
Both of those strains were different from the outbreak strain, according to the ABC News report. Dr. David Acheson, the assistant commissioner for food safety at FDA, told ABC that investigators may have exhausted all their leads. “It is unlikely that we will ever make a determination of how this contamination occurred, Acheson said. The ABC story said product tampering is NOT suspected as a cause.
But Fred Pritzker, president of national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys, said nothing has changed in the epidemiological study of victims, which strongly and validly showed a high correlation between the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 and consumption of uncooked, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough.
Pritzker Olsen is continuing to accept cases from the outbreak and is representing E. coliand HUS nationwide. The firm is one of America’s most experienced practitioners in the area of foodborne illness litigation. Our E. coli attorneys have recovered millions for victims of these outbreaks and Pritzker Olsen has long been an advocate for a stronger U.S. food safety system.
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