NEW YORK, June 26, 2009

Nestle Refused Info To FDA, Report Claims

Complaint Logs, Pest-Control Records Never Sent; Company Recently Recalled Cookie Dough

  • The FDA informed the company it suspected consumers may have been exposed to E. coli bacteria after eating the dough raw.

    The FDA informed the company it suspected consumers may have been exposed to E. coli bacteria after eating the dough raw.  (AP)

(AP)  Inspection reports from a Nestle USA cookie dough factory show the company refused several times to provide Food and Drug Administration inspectors with complaint logs, pest-control records and other information.

Nestle voluntarily recalled all Toll House refrigerated cookie dough products made at the factory late last week after the FDA informed the company it suspected consumers may have been exposed to E. coli bacteria after eating the dough raw.

The Centers for Disease Control says 69 people have been sickened in 29 states.

The FDA's reports on the Virginia plant back to 2004.

FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek said the Glendale, Calif.-based unit of Switzerland-based Nestle SA was not obligated to allow inspectors access.


© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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by jjp735i June 29, 2009 10:46 AM EDT
"not obligated to allow inspectors access".
Why do we even have an FDA?
Reply to this comment
by CantFoolMe June 28, 2009 11:06 PM EDT
This is crazy!!!
Reply to this comment
by hsudul June 28, 2009 3:14 PM EDT
10 minutes that's all it takes to make fresh cookie and because you
have common sense you simply don't eat raw dough. It sets in a bowl
your butter or shortening. A few minutes with mixer and then you add
egg and vanilla.. once creamy, you add your dry ingredients.. STir why
the big deal folks.. I plan to do that today as I make cookies for the
local VA hospital residents. Secondly when you make your own dough, you have complete control of what's in your cookie. You just made a
product on American soil
Reply to this comment
by Ichabod09 June 29, 2009 10:03 PM EDT
"cookies for the local VA hospital residents"
_______________________________________________

Somebody call the CDC and let em know we found the source of the E. Coli outbreak at the VA hospital.
by apple2pie June 27, 2009 2:50 PM EDT
This comes from Switzerland being neutral. They automatically think this means they are outside of rules that apply to the rest of us. (aka banking rules)
Reply to this comment
by ToolMangler1 June 28, 2009 2:02 PM EDT
That is why we (the USA) are in such deep yogurt economically. The lack of accountability and oversight in all facets of industry, Business, Finance and Healthcare is killing the Greatest country on Earth, us!!!!!
by stn_sage June 27, 2009 1:23 AM EDT
WHAT...'Nestle SA was not obligated to allow inspectors access'?

Yet, 69 people in 29 states have been stricken by THEIR contaminated product(s)?!

IF no one is regulating this company, either at the Federal or State level, then why have records?
And, why REFUSE to show them? You would just say that!

I'd guess the State hasn't been conducting inspections as required, so the company doesn't have
any recent paperwork to show! But, I'd also guess---

That now that they have POISONED so many consumers that the State Inspectors will get off their
arses and do what they should have done a long time ago! Right?

After all, it being an emergency situation and the State wanting to avoid massive lawsuits from
poisoned citizens because it didn't inspect this plant as it should have! OOPS!
Reply to this comment
by wogerwabbit June 26, 2009 10:18 PM EDT
Corporations run amok feeding on our flesh and in some case, our bones. No rules, no soul, no conscience... they bow only to the Holy Profit... the rest of us be damned.

This is the result of the markets regulating themselves... or in other words, no regulation at all... a government granted license to steal what little wealth they let us amass before the next big bubble bursts.

We should follow the money with pitchforks and blazing torches and burn the profiteers at the stake before they do it again!
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso29 June 26, 2009 4:01 PM EDT
I once contacted the FDA about expired vitamins and nutriceuticals a health food store was selling. They claimed no jurisdiction. I cited the regulatory infractions from the CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) they said that when it came to food--they could inspect only but had little clout unless people got sick. Then they said that nutriceuticals are also not considered drugs and neither were vitamins--in other words there is a huge amount of stuff on the market that is not being watched or regulated by anyone.

What the FDA is not sharing, but everyone should wonder--what was the punitive action when Nestle refused to provide the data? The answer is--probably nothing. Laws with no teeth and Congress and agencies with no political will to do nothing but let them rule the roost and do as they please.
Reply to this comment
by bobbyduck1 June 26, 2009 3:51 PM EDT
I'm pretty sure that they used to be obligated until the industry was deregulated. Probably between 2000 and 2008. Gee there could be a pattern here.

Maybe we should look at other stuff we deregulated then. It might not have been a good idea.....OMG surely they didn't do the same with banks and Wall Street did they?
Reply to this comment
by ToolMangler1 June 26, 2009 10:21 PM EDT
Now, 'you know' that all this economic mess and war is all Obamas fault!! The GOP would never put "Americans" in danger for profit.
BTW: I have some beach property for sale (Five hundred acres from the waters edge due east in Myrtle Beach SC, $1000 per acre...)
by pvperson3 June 26, 2009 3:26 PM EDT
"Was not obligated"?.......What the hell do you mean "Not Obligated", how about this country isn't obligated to ALLOW them to do business here?
Reply to this comment
by meatrex1 June 26, 2009 2:53 PM EDT
When they start putting something other than chocolate chips and I start tossing my cookies, there will be hell to pay. I'm back on Oreo's until I hear otherwise.
Reply to this comment
by toldyouso29 June 26, 2009 4:04 PM EDT
Think you better read what is in your oreos. ALL food companies do this--they do what they want and the FDA does little to nothing. For the chemicals and preservatives alone in food (that coloring, imitation flavoring and BHT or other ingredient to keep stuff soft and/or 'fresh' are all chemicals) they most definitely should be regulated--but after YEARS of this (started long before 2000) the food industry is not likely to give in quietly and many in Congress beholden to the industry will help to fight this.
by skyk-2009 June 26, 2009 2:48 PM EDT
"Was not obligated"? Should we make sure they ARE obligated in the future?
Reply to this comment
by ToolMangler1 June 26, 2009 9:39 PM EDT
Well until they 'Are' obligated to be up front with America, I and my family will nolonger buy "ANY" Nestle Pruducts. I prefer Hersheys anyway. For thoser of you that think Nestle owns Hershey as reported last year, here is todays news about it
"The London Daily Telegraph reported that Hershey Co. is working on selling a 25% stake in itself to Nestle SA, with an option for Nestle to buy the remaining stake within the next two years. "

http://www.thedeal.com/dealscape/2008/09/nestle_may_swallow_part_of_her.php
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