The cookie will crumble a bit differently from now on. Nestle has temporarily shut down production of its Toll House refrigerated cookie dough after samples at the Danville, VA manufacturing plant tested positive for E coli 0157:H7. The company plans to switch to heat-treated flour when it cranks up the mixers again in a few weeks.
 
Nestle says none of the batches in question were shipped to stores, and they’re not issuing a recall. 
 
That wasn’t the case last June, when more than 70 people in 31 states became sick after eating the dough raw. Nestle recalled all its prepackaged refrigerated dough, shut down the plant, and turned to new sources for its main ingredients. It also put new testing protocols in place, which is how the current E coli-tainted samples were found.
 
But just because these packages didn’t make it to store shelves doesn’t mean you can eat dough raw. All cookie dough, store-bought or home-made, has the potential to carry not only E coli but, more commonly, salmonella. (Same goes for raw cake batter, by the way.) So pull out the cookie sheets, heat up the oven, and bake as directed.