Friday, June 19, 2009

Nestlé Recall - Yet Another Reason To Bake From Scratch

Or Some May Say It’s Another Reason Not To Eat Raw Dough In Any Form…

Nestlé is recalling its refrigerated, pre-made Toll House cookie doughs, which have made some folks ill after they were eaten uncooked. Nestlé has issued a huge list of cookie dough products, including Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough in the 16.5 ounce and 32 ounce tubes, which should be discarded immediately. Read the full story here.

Nestlé does make it very clear on the label that its dough must be cooked before eating, but that’s a pretty hard instruction for 99% of people to follow. We’re all used to eating raw dough and we just don’t feel as if it carries the same risk as eating raw chicken, for example. A blogger , I know, HAS claimed to have gotten sick from eating (her own) dough uncooked, but THAT case was probably from the huge amount she ate, rather than from the actual dough.

I can only speak for myself. I’ve never NOT eaten raw dough and, knock on my KitchenAid, I’ve never gotten sick from it yet. BUT I’ve never bought store-bought dough either and this is certainly another reason not to.

7 comments:

Tom said...

Hi Sue,

I haven't ever been full-blown sick from eating raw dough, but did experience a little, ahem, distress this week after eating the last of the raw muffin batter after filling a muffin tin(it was soooo tasty, though...), even though it was made with supposedly organic eggs and I always rinse the shells beforehand (especially if I want to get the eggs up to room temperature quickly). Luckily it was just me that had a problem -- each year at Christmas I use 6 dozen raw eggs to make eggnog for our annual party with about 80 guests. Can you imagine what that could have been like?

Your warning is important to take seriously, raw eggs carry some risk of illness when consumed. And while food product manufacturers obviously don't actively wish for customers to become ill, there's every reason to take greater care with processed food products containing raw eggs.

Jen said...

Hi Sue-- I usually end up eating so much raw cookie dough/brownie batter/ whatever it is I'm making that I have no appetite for the finished product. I've never bought refrigerated cookie dough but I will say that I have been sorely tempted on a few very bad days and I'm sure I would have eaten some of the dough raw. The recall seems like just another reminder that some things shouldn't come in packages.

marty said...

Some things are just worth the risk of salmonella; warm shrimp at a buffet? Not so much. Raw cookie dough? BRING IT ON! I've happily snacked on raw dough all my life (I'm 60, btw) and have never suffered ill effects. Some improperly re-heated chicken and dumplings, however, knocked me on my butt for more than a day. Not fun. But I agree--beware the roll o' dough in the refrigerator aisle.

Sue said...

TOM!
Before Christmas, I promise I'll give you my mother's reworked eggnog recipe for you to try. It's probably exactly like yours, except that I cook the egg part like a custard or ice cream base and mine won't kill anyone!

I'm sorry you got "sick" from the muffin batter. Are you sure it wasn't from the 12 (cooked) muffins you ate?

Hi Jen,
Me too!!! As good as cookies are, the cookie dough is 300 times better.

I have a feeling millions of people are going to stop buying pre-made cookie dough, whether they want to or not.

Marty,
I'm with you. I've eaten gallons of raw cookie dough in my life with nary a problem.

The next time you make chicken and dumplings, please, Marty, try this:
http://foodnetworkmusings.
blogspot.com/2009/06/
hmmm-tyler-version-of-chicken-and.html

marty said...

Thanks for the link, Sue, but any chicken & dumpling recipe won't stand up to a half-hearted zap in the microwave a day or two after preparation, resulting in barely warmed chicken chunks and sauce, gobbled down as I get ready to head out to a meeting. Result: counting the tiles in my bathroom for a day or so. Not pretty. Forevermore, all chicken dishes are re-heated THOROUGHLY around here--I save my edgy food tasting for the cookie dough.

Sue said...

I hear ya, Marty.

I sure hope they were pretty tiles at least.

Emily said...

Hehee I like it when you link to me. I don't know.. maybe it wasn't the raw cookie dough. It probably was Taco Bell. That's my guess.

I can't read your Top Chef post yet! I haven't watched it yet. I did see the My Life on the D List episode you were talking about.