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Cleanliness an Issue During Nestle Plant Inspection

By PritzkerLaw

Investigators from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently found two cleanliness flaws at the cookie dough plant in  Danville, Virginia, that spawned the multi-state Nestle E. coli outbreak.

The four investigators signed a report July 9 that said the workmanship of certain hopper valves "does not allow proper cleaning.'' The hoppers hold dry ingredients in the cookie dough prep room.

The same team observed ice build-up on overhead pipes on June 18. The pipes, which transport a processing aid to mixers on four production lines, dripped condensation onto a metal rake used by workers to scrape cookie dough from the mixer into a trough for transport to the filling line. The observation was: "Lack of appropriate design to enable manufacturing systems to be maintained in an appropriate sanitary condition.''

The flaws were listed as "observations'' and Nestle is being given a chance to object to them or implement corrective action before the FDA would make any decision about compliance of food safety rules.

Meanwhile, these and other Nestle plant inspection records are being reviewed by national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys as part of its own investigation into the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that has sickened at least 72 people in 30 states. The firm's review of previous inspection records at the Danville plant found four areas of concern uncovered at the plant in 2006 and a steadfast refusal by Nestle over the past several years  to disclose internal records about consumer complaints.

In 2004, FDA investigators found headings for two consumer complaints about cookie dough:One for a foreign object in the dough and another involving insects found in the cookie dough.

"The firm refused to offer details on these complaints,'' the inspection report said.

Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in foodborne illness litigation. Our firm already is representing some victims in the Nestle recall and cookie dough outbreak and is continuing to accept new cases. To contact an E. coli  lawyer at Pritzker Olsen, call toll-free 1-888-377-8900 or complete one of our online forms for a free case consultation from an attorney.

The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have said that at least  two different strains of E. coli O157:H7 have been associated with Nestle refrigerated Toll House cookie dough and consumers have been warned not to eat the product in any variety. But so far, health investigators haven't been able to pinpoint where the contamination originated inside the Danville production facility.

FDA's plant inspection reports dating to 2004 do not show the plant out of compliance, but the 2006 inspection found four "deficiencies'' that were discussed with Nestle. According to the FDA report, these were:

• Three live ant-like insects along a wall of the powdered sugar dump station in the cookie dough manufacturing area.
• Dirty stainless steel equipment and utensils in a bin marked as "clean'' in the cookie dough cleaning area.
• Clear liqid dripping from an overhead line in the liquid egg receiving bay.
• Equipment not functioning to properly remove trays of cookie dough on one production line.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on July 14, 2009 (boomark / email).