The Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases yesterday published an article reporting on the 2009 outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 caused by commercial cookie dough. In all, the outbreak sickened 77 people in 30 states between March 16 and July 8, 2009. 35 of the ill were hospitalized and 10 developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS).
Among those ill was Marler Clark client Linda Rivera, whose agonizing plight was chronicled in the Washington Post. The authors of the article on the outbreak reached these conclusions:
Despite instructions to bake brand A cookie dough before eating, case patients consumed the product uncooked. Manufacturers should consider formulating ready-to-bake commercial prepackaged cookie dough to be as safe as a ready-to-eat product. More effective consumer education about the risks of eating unbaked cookie dough is needed.