The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has confirmed the presence of a deadly strain of E. coli bacteria in samples of Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough, which has caused food poisoning, sickening 69 consumers in 29 states including California. According to a news report in Consumeraffairs.com, the E. coli-contaminated cookie dough originated in Nestlé's Danville, Virginia plant. Nestlé recalled 30,000 cases of its hugely popular cookie dough products last month. FDA officials said the bacteria were not found inside the plant or on the equipment, but only in a tub of chocolate cookie dough made at the plant in February. The dough had a June 10, 2009 expiration date.

The FDA initially warned consumers on June 19, 2009 not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestlé Toll House refrigerated cookie dough because of the risk of E. coli food poisoning. So far, 34 people have been hospitalized as a result of this E. coli outbreak. Nine food poisoning victims have developed a severe complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). This is a serious condition that can cause life-threatening kidney failure. Most of these cases apparently develop after several days of diarrhea – often bloody – due to infection with a specific strain of Escherichia coli (E. coli). Both children and adults may develop HUS after E. coli infections.

E. coli infections typically cause serious personal injury. Symptoms include abdominal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea with bloody stools. Young children and the elderly are at the highest risk for becoming infected with E. coli and developing HUS, which can lead to serious kidney damage or even death. So far, no deaths have been reported as a result of these E. coli contaminated Nestlé cookie dough products.

If you have one of these recalled products, please throw them away. If you believe you have contracted E. coli infection as a result of consuming this contaminated cookie dough, please preserve any left over product and package so it can be examined for the bacteria. Do not cook the dough because you might get the bacteria on your hands or on other cooking surfaces. If you have recently eaten the cookie dough and have symptoms of food poisoning such as vomiting, diarrhea or stomach cramps, please contact your doctor right away. If you would like to find out more information about how to pursue your legal rights please contact an experienced food poisoning lawyer who can provide you with information and will also better explain the options that are available to you in your food borne illness case.

The JBS Swift Beef Company of Colorado has expanded its beef recall to include 380,000 pounds of assorted beef products for E. coli contamination, according to an article on Consumer Reports' Web site. This expanded recall comes apparently as a result of an ongoing investigation into 24 food poisoning cases in multiple states including California. Eighteen of these incidents appear to be meat-related, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The recalled beef products were produced on April 21 and April 22. They were distributed to retail establishments in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin. The names of retailers where this meat was sold has not yet been released.

E.Coli 0157:H7 is a deadly strain of bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, severe stomach cramps and nausea. In severe cases, E. Coli can cause kidney failure or even death. Those most prone to be afflicted with this bacterium include the elderly, young children and those with weakened immune systems.

The kind of recalled beef includes cuts of beef used for steaks and roasts rather than ground beef. However, officials are now saying that the larger cuts of the possibly contaminated meat may have been made into ground beef by other companies. The recalled beef was shipped in boxes with the establishment number "EST. 969" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the identifying package date of "042109" and a time stamp ranging from "0618" to "1130."

If you or a loved one is suffering from E. Coli symptoms as a result of consuming this particular brand of beef products, please contact experienced California personal injury attorneys to find out more about your legal rights and options. Your first step when you become afflicted with a food-borne illness is to contact your doctor or physician. You need to get the necessary treatment right away so that the infection does not become serious. You would also be well advised to immediately stop using the contaminated product, but save it so it can be examined by an expert for presence of E. Coli bacteria or contamination.

This recent recall is more evidence of the breakdown in our food safety system. I hope USDA officials get to the bottom of this recall and make sure all these contaminated beef products are taken off the market before they find their way to consumers' grills.

Salmonella infections and E. coli infections are among the most common food-borne illnesses we come across in the news. At least, they are the most publicized forms of food poisoning. However, a news report in Consumer Reports' Safety Blog says that salmonella is only the second most common cause of food poisoning in the United States. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has released information that the leading cause of cases reported to them by a wide margin was "norovirus." This is basically a group of viruses that cause the stomach flu. The norovirus accounted for more than half of the reported outbreaks in 2006.

According to the CDC report, there were 1,270 reported food-borne illness outbreaks in 2006, which resulted in 27,634 illnesses and 11 deaths. Among these 1,270 outbreaks, 621 had a confirmed single cause and that cause was most often norovirus – about 54 percent of the outbreaks. CDC officials say that a vast majority of food-borne illnesses and outbreaks go unreported. They estimate that there are 76 million cases of food-borne illness annually in the United States, leading to 5,000 deaths.

What is the most common cause of these norovirus outbreaks? The answer is quite simple. It happens because infected food handlers do not wash their hands properly after using the bathroom. On the other hand salmonella outbreaks occur very often when foods that have been tainted with animal waste are eaten raw or without being properly cooked.

If anything, this report shows that 50 percent or half of the food-borne illness outbreaks can be prevented if our food handlers washed their hands properly. Most of us get sick because the chef at the restaurant we had dinner at showed up to work sick and did not wash his hands properly. That's unacceptable! The symptoms for norovirus infections are no less painful. The most common symptoms include nausea, abdominal pain, cramps, diarrhea, weight loss and fever.

If you believe you have been infected with a food-borne illness as a result of someone else's negligence, be it a restaurant or a cafeteria, please contact experienced California food-borne illness attorneys to find out how you can pursue your legal rights.