Foodmaker Nestle USA on Friday voluntarily recalled its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products after a number of illnesses -- including two in Utah -- were reported by those who ate the dough raw.
The company said the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating reported E. coli illnesses that might be related to eating the dough.
In Utah, a child and an adult became sick in late April, said Marilee Poulson, epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health. One was hospitalized with a life-threatening complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, which occurs in about 10 percent of people infected with E. coli. Both have recovered.
Federal officials said there have been 66 reports of illness across 28 states. Of the 25 people who were hospitalized, seven had Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. No one has died.
E. coli is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure.
Contact your health care professional immediately if you or your family have recently eaten the dough and have had stomach cramps, vomiting or diarrhea, with or without bloody stools.
Federal officials advised consumers to throw away any prepackaged, refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products in their homes. Consumers should not try to cook the dough, even though eating cooked dough would be safe, because consumers might get bacteria on their hands and on counters and other cooking surfaces.
The recall includes refrigerated cookie bar dough, cookie dough tub, cookie dough tubes, limited-edition cookie dough items, seasonal cookie dough and Ultimates cookie bar dough. It does not affect any other Toll House products, officials said.
