Nestle shuts down plant linked to E. coli

DANVILLE, Va., June 23 (UPI) -- Nestle has announced the temporary closing of a Virginia plant where cookie dough linked to an outbreak of E. coli is manufactured.

The company said Monday about 200 employees at the facility in Danville will be out of work, at least temporarily, CNN reported. The plant also produces Buitoni pasta and sauce, but that facility is not affected by the closing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notified Nestle last week that its unbaked chocolate chip cookie dough appeared to be a common factor in reported cases of E. coli, a serious and sometimes deadly food-borne illness. Roz O'Hearn said the company decided within hours to stop shipping the product and to recall 300,000 cases of the dough.

At least 70 cases of E. coli have been reported since March1, the CDC said. At least 25 people were sick enough to be hospitalized and seven developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure, but no deaths have been reported.

While baking kills the bacteria, the CDC recommended buyers get rid of all unbaked cookie dough since people using it could get the bacteria on their hands, possibly spreading it to work surfaces or other food.