Cookie-dough plant being scrutinized

Washington Post

Federal microbiologists and food safety investigators have descended on the Danville, Va., plant that makes Nestle’s refrigerated cookie dough, trying to crack a scientific mystery surrounding a national outbreak of illness from E. coli 0157, a deadly strain of bacterium, which has been linked to the product.

Health officials and food producers puzzled Saturday over how E. coli 0157, a bacterium that lives in the intestines of cattle, could have ended up in a product that seems so unlikely to contain it.

The outbreak, which has sickened at least 65 people in 29 states, is the latest worry for consumers.

The latest outbreak is particularly alarming because the young and the elderly are more likely to develop severe complications if infected with E. coli 0157. More than two-thirds of the 65 victims are younger than 19, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. None has died.