Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza Salmonella Outbreak: Raw Cookie Dough Contaminated with Salmonella Bacteria
More than 2 dozen individuals in Western U.S. States, including California (2 victims), Idaho (5 victims), Oregon (8 victims), Utah (4 victims) and Washington (6 victims) states, as well as one person in Missouri, contracted salmonella after eating Papa Murphy’s raw cookie dough. The earliest case had an onset of illness on February the 24th of this year, while the latest illness onset appears to have been May 28th. Over 80 percent of the victims were women, half between 14 and 81 years of age. The outbreak investigation quickly identified a common food item, the Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza Raw Cookie Dough, of which at least 15 of the respondents who tested positive for salmonella recalled consuming prior to cooking. On May 23rd, even before the last victim became ill, Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N’ Bake Pizza stopped selling the raw chocolate chip cookie dough and raw S’mores bars dough.
According to Ron Simon, lead attorney in hundreds of salmonella lawsuits:
“raw cookie dough remains a serious concern. Over the years, some companies have gone to heating or pasteurizing ingredients to make the product safe to consume raw, but many other brands have not done so. Any cookie dough, cake batter, or other raw dough or batters, especially in those that the cook has added raw eggs, are potentially dangerous. It does not matter if the raw ingredients were added during product manufacturing or added by the cook prior to consumption, if the product or any of its ingredients have not been put through a kill step, it could contain dangerous bacteria like salmonella, E. coli, of Listeria.”
Simon added: ” if you were diagnosed with salmonella, and latter contacted by the health department, you may very well have been part of a known outbreak.”
Gold Medal Unbleached and Bleached All Purpose Flour Linked to Salmonella Outbreak
Simon also offered the same warnings on consumption of raw flour, and pointed to a recent reminder of this fact that also unfolded earlier this year, in Spring of 2023, when Gold Medal Unbleached and Bleached All Purpose Flour was linked to a salmonella outbreak across the nation. More than a dozen victims have been identified so far – there is always the potential of additional victims as the four had a use by dates of March 27, 2024, and March 28, 2024. The victims resided in California (1), Illinois (2), Iowa (1), Minnesota (1), Missouri (1), Nebraska (1), New Jersey (1), New York (1), Ohio (1), Oregon (1), Tennessee (1), Virginia (1), and Washington State (1) when they consumed the tainted product.
According to the CDC, these guidelines should be followed when handling flour:
- DO follow package directions on baking mixes and other flour containing products for correct cooking temperatures and specified times.
- DO keep all raw foods, like flour and eggs, separate from ready-to eat foods. Remember, flour is a powder and spreads easily.
- DO refrigerate cookie and pastry dough according to package directions. Use a refrigerator thermometer to be sure your refrigerator is at a safe 40°F.
- DO clean up carefully after working with flour or raw dough and eggs:
- Wash hands thoroughly with soap and running water, and,
- Wash utensils, bowls, baking pans and cutting boards, and countertops with warm, soapy water.
- DO NOT eat, taste, or allow children to eat or play with raw dough products or baking mix before cooking.
- DO NOT keep recalled flour. Throw it away.
- DO NOT let children use raw dough for crafts or play clay.
- DO NOT use products that contain raw flour, like cake mix, to make ready-to-eat products like milkshakes.
- DO NOT try to heat treat flour in your own home. Home treatments of flour may not effectively kill all bacteria and do not make it safe to eat raw.
- DO NOT use raw cookie dough in ready-to-eat ice cream.
