Nestle Outbreak: FDA inspection of Nestle USA Danville, Virginia Plant
On June 16, 2009, three days before the Nestle Toll House recall, the FDA began an inspection of the Nestle USA Danville, Virginia plant that had manufactured the Nestle Toll House cookie dough that has been linked to over 70 illnesses in 30 states. The inspection continued until July 9, 2009. During the Nestle FDA inspection the following observations were made:
OBSERVATION 1 The workmanship of equipment does not allow proper cleaning. Specifically, inside the “Toll House” brand cookie dough preparation room, dry ingredients are placed inside hoppers. The dry ingredients are gravity fed to blending mixers through gate valves that are installed on the hoppers. As a result of this investigation, the firm disassembled all gate valves from all hoppers on production lines 8, 10, 11, and 12. The gate valves appear to have food contact surfaces that are not easily cleanable as evidenced by rough, pitted and discolored cast metal alloy.
OBSERVATION 2 Lack of appropriate design to enable manufacturing systems to be maintained in an appropriate sanitary condition. Specifically, as “Toll House” brand cookie dough was mixed on 6-18-09, ice build-up surrounded pipes that transport a processing aid to mixers on production lines 8, 10, 11, and 12. On line 8, condensate from the ice dripped onto a metal rake that personnel then used to scrape cookie dough from the mixer into a dough trough for transport to the filling line.
Every E. coli outbreak is a product of unsanitary conditions. If the equipment used to make the recalled Nestle cookie dough could not “be maintained in an appropriate sanitary condition,” it is not surprising that a dangerous foodborne pathogen, E. coli, contaminated some cookie dough.
If you have been sickened with an E. coli infection in the Nestle outbreak, please contact our law firm about a Nestle lawsuit:
• 1-888-377-8900 (toll free)
• Free consultation form.
Nestle Cookie Dough E. coli Outbreak Up to 70 Cases
The Nestle cookie dough E. coli outbreak has grown to 70 cases in 30 states while state and federal health investigators continue to investigate how the product may have become contaminated.
Of the 70 people confirmed to be sickened by the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7, 30 have been hospitalized and seven have suffered from hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe complication that attacks a person’s red blood cells and kidneys. The latest figures come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC also said 66 percent of patients in the outbreak are less than 19 years old. Seventy-five percent of the entire group is female.
If you or someone you know has become sick after eating Nestle’s prepackaged cookie dough, see a physician. Your stool sample should be tested for E. coli and the results turned over to the health department in your state. National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is representing E. coli victims nationwide. An E. coli lawyer is ready to assist you at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). To contact an attorney online, complete one of our free case consultation forms.
Foodborne illness is a complicated legal specialty. Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. Lawyers for the firm have collected tens of millions of dollars for food poisoning victims. They have been interviewed about food safety and food poisoning by The New York Times, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, USA Today and many regional newspapers and television networks.
The company is currently compiling information for a possible Nestle cookie dough E. coli lawsuit. Nearly all Toll House dough products are made at a plant in Danville, Virginia, where 550 people are employed. The plant also makes Buitoni refrigerated Pasta.
Delving Into Nestle Cookie Dough E. coli Outbreak
Federal health investigators this week will delve further into the Nestle Cookie Dough E. coli outbreak to determine what ingredient, process or condition led to possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination in batches of Toll House cookie and brownie dough.
The prepackaged, refrigerated dough is unlikely habitat for E. coli O157:H7, which grows harmlessly in the hindguts of cattle and other hooved animals, is expelled in their manure and is most frequently linked to outbreaks involving ground beef or fresh produce grown near cattle. Once consumed by humans, the bacterium sheds a powerful toxin that can cause severe illness, including hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a kind of kidney failure.
From today’s Washington Post:
Because the appearance of E. coli 0157 in cookie dough is so unusual, investigators are looking at a broad range of possible factors, analyzing the ingredients, the plant’s equipment and interior, the health of workers and whether the facility is located near cattle. Federal officials are also considering whether the dough might have been intentionally contaminated
According to Consumer Reports, 39 percent of consumers eat raw cookie dough. It’s a popular snack and Nestle’s marketing experts are well aware of that trend. That’s why national food safety lawyer Fred Pritzker of Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is telling victims of the outbreak that the company will be held accountable despite a label warning on all the cookie dough packages that tells people not to eat the product uncooked.
Pritzker has called on Nestle to immediately pay medical bills and lost wages of the victims. Meanwhile the firm is preparing information for a possible Nestle cookie dough lawsuit and is doing some of its own investigating into the recall and outbreak.
Nestle USA recalled ALL varieties of its Toll House cookie dough on Friday after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified the company of a high correlation between the 66 people infected by the outbreak strain of E. coli and consumption of raw Nestle cookie dough prior to the onset of E. coli O157:H7 symptoms.
The CDC said the outbreak strain of E. coli has been found in patients in 29 states and that most victims are girls and young women under the age of 19. Pritzker Olsen is representing E. coli victims nationwide and an E. coli lawyer is ready to assist you at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). If you want to reach an attorney online, complete one of our free case consultation forms.
The Washington Post said Nestle’s recall (click here for details of Nestle cookie dough recall) covers some 300,000 cases of product. The dough is made at a Nestle plant in Danville, Virginia, that employs 500 people. The job of the CDC and FDA, with help from state health department laboratories, will be to find the outbreak strain of E. coli at the plant or in packages that are out in the marketplace or in the homes of people who were sickened.
The CDC has said that 25 victims of the outbreak have been hospitalized, including seven who developed HUS. The number of victims tied to the outbreak is likely to grow. The first known case dates to March 1.
Pritzker Olsen is involved in practically every major outbreak of foodborne illness and has collected tens of millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning. It is one of the few firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation.
Nestle Cookie Dough E. coli Outbreak
Yet another Nestle cookie dough E. coli outbreak update.
As we field questions from people throughout the United States regarding this outbreak and a Nestle lawsuit, additional information about the Nestle cookie dough E. coli outbreak is becoming available.
CONTACT OUR ATTORNEYS. WE ARE REPRESENTING E. COLI VICTIMS NATIONWIDE.
Washington State health officials are now reporting that 5 of the 66 people confirmed sickened in the Nestle cookie dough E. coli outbreak were from Washington. Two of the five required hospitalization. The people sickened were from the following counties:
1) May 6, Grays Harbor County woman
2) May 12, Thurston County teenage girl, hospitalized
3) May 15, Pierce County girl
4) May 20, King County boy
5) May 21, King County girl, hospitalized.
Colorado has reported that 5 of the 66 people sickened in the Nestle cookie dough E. coli outbreak were from Colorado. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment:
Five cases have been reported in Colorado in the following counties: Denver, Douglas (2), Jefferson and Weld. Two of the people have been hospitalized, and one has developed a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Of the four people interviewed so far by the state health department, all had consumed the raw cookie dough during the week before they became ill.
The Minnesota Department of Health reports 6 people in Minnesota sickened in the outbreak:
State health officials are investigating six cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Minnesota residents associated with eating a popular brand of raw, commercially packaged cookie dough.
Routine monitoring by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) found that the cases of illness were all caused by E. coli O157:H7 with the same DNA fingerprint. The individuals became ill between May 3 and June 11. All six reported eating raw cookie dough of the Nestle’s Toll House brand.
The cases range in age from 2 to 18 years of age; five (83 percent) are female. One was hospitalized. All have recovered.
Minnesota’s cases are linked by the same DNA fingerprint to cases of E. coli infection in at least 66 people in 28 states. In addition, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the vast majority of the people interviewed reported eating raw cookie dough of the same brand.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are warning consumers not to eat or use Nestle cookie dough products because of the risk that they are contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
The announcement today coincided with a Nestle recall of its Toll House brand of refrigerated cookie dough – all varieties. A number of people sickened with the outbreak strain of E. coli reported eating raw Nestle cookie dough before they became ill.
Since March 2009, 66 cases have been confirmed in 28 states. The FDA and CDC said 25 victims were hospitalized, including seven who suffered severe complications of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure. As of this morning, no deaths had been reported.
The warning from federal health authorities included the advice for people not to use the dough for cooking. That’s because handling the uncooked product could possibly lead to an E. coli infection. The recall is effective immediately and it includes ALL varieties of Nestle Toll House refrigerated Cookie Bar Dough, Cookie Dough Tub; Cookie Dough Tube; Limited Edition Cookie Dough items; Seasonal Cookie Dough and Ultimates Cookie Bar Dough. Nestle has published a complete list of every package subject to the recall.
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is accepting cases from all states, including Minnesota, Colorado, Washington, Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota South Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Texas, California, New York, Florida, Indiana, Idaho, Wisconsin, Michigan, Maine, Vermont, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Virginia and West Virginia.
The firm has started its own investigation and is compiling Toll House lawsuit information. Pritzker Olsen has already been in touch with potential victims of the outbreak and currently represents E. coli O157:H7 clients from past outbreaks. The firm is one of the few in the nation that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. It has collected millions for victims of food poisoning and has been a long-time advocate for reform in the American food safety system.
If you believe you or a loved one has contracted E. coli O157:H7 from eating Nestle cookie dough, E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Olsen are ready to assist you. There is no charge for consulting with our firm. If we agree to represent you, we are paid a percentage of the money we collect for you. If there is no recovery, you owe us nothing.
Please contact us toll-free at 1-888-377-8900 or write to our attorneys online for a free consultation.
Pritzker Olsen has a reputation for taking extreme care with food poisoning victims and it has considerable expertise and resources to handle cases where individuals have received complicated and expensive medical treatment for severe illnesses.
References:
- 5 Suspected Cookie E. coli Cases in Washington, Associated Press, June 19, 2009.
- http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/release/2009/061809.html
- http://www.health.state.mn.us/news/pressrel/2009/ecoli061909.html
