The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has completed its inspection of Danville's Nestle USA plant without finding a link between the cookie dough and the strain of E. coli that has affected dozens of people in 30 states.
Nestle voluntarily recalled more than 3.6 million packages of the cookie dough June 19 when the FDA investigation began.
On June 29, the FDA confirmed evidence of E. coli 0157 in a production sample of Nestle Toll House refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough bar.
On Thursday, Michael Herndon, a spokesperson for the FDA, confirmed testing on the sample has been completed and the E. coli in it did not match the E. coli strain that had made people sick.
E. coli 0157 had also not been detected in the Danville factory or on any of the equipment during an intensive FDA investigation that lasted more than a week, according to a news release from Nestle.
Roz Herndon, a spokesperson for Nestle, said Thursday that extensive testing continues at the Danville plant, which has disassembled, sterilized, reassembled and re-sterilized every piece of equipment in the plant to assure food safety.
"Controlled production began late Tuesday afternoon on a few lines," Herndon said. "We're phasing it in because there is still extensive testing to do due to the disassembly."
Herndon said new flour, eggs and margarine were being used, and were also undergoing extensive testing, all under the eye of the FDA, which has been monitoring the plant.
Nestle is still encouraging consumers to return any packages of cookie dough with a day code of 9041 and "Best before 10 June 2009" stamped on it. They can be returned to local grocers for a full refund.
Herndon said she cannot yet say when the Danville plant will begin to ship cookie dough again.
"It's still too early to say; there is still much testing to do," Herndon said. "But we are getting closer, much closer, to market reentry."
The company continues to warn consumers not to eat raw cookie dough, "as our product labels caution." To see more of the Danville Register & Bee or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.registerbee.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Danville Register & Bee, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
Copyright (C) 2009, Danville Register & Bee, Va.