Do not eat raw Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough, two federal agencies are warning. Both the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the premade dough could be contaminated with the bacterium E. coli 0157:H7, which causes abdominal cramping, vomiting and diarrhea. Children and older folks can experience even worse symptoms, the agencies say. As a precaution, Nestle is recalling some 300,000 cases of the dough after reports of food-borne illness in 28 states. “While the E. coli strain implicated in this investigation has not been detected in our product, the health and safety of our consumers is paramount, so we are initiating this voluntary recall.”  Nestle spokeswoman Laurie MacDonald said, “The health and safety of our consumers is our No. 1 priority. We felt the best thing to do is a voluntary recall.” Nestle immediately took action after being notified by the FDA on Wednesday, she said. “We really want to remind consumers that raw cookie dough should not be eaten,” she said. More than 60 people have become sick in 28 states after eating raw cookie dough. Twenty-five people were hospitalized. No one has died.

No Higher Premiums for Those with History of Med Problems? In a surprising but welcomed turn, the health insurance industry has taken the unprecedented step of offering similar premiums to people with pre-existing medical problems as those with no reported medical history. The offer, from America’s Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, “is a potentially significant shift in the debate over reforming the nation’s health care system to rein in costs and cover an estimated 48 million uninsured people,” The Associated Press reports. The proposal was contained in a letter to key senators, according to AP, in which the insurance giants said their members would “phase out the practice of varying premiums based on health status in the individual market” if all Americans are required to get coverage. “The offer here is to transition away from risk rating, which is one of the things that makes life hell for real people,” said health economist Len Nichols of the New America Foundation public policy center. “They have never in their history offered to give up risk rating.”

Baby Products Recalled Two baby items are being recalled because they are potentially harmful to infants, MSNBC reports. Fisher-Price is recalling tens of thousands of 3-in-1 high chairs because the seat can fall backward from the frame if the release is unlatched while a child is inside, and several thousand Baby Necessities pacifiers are being pulled from shelves because they failed safety tests, MSNBC reports. The high chairs have seat backs that can detach if not snapped fully into place. In at least one instance, a detached seat back resulted in a fractured skull. The high chairs, which were manufactured in Mexico, were sold at Target stores around the country between December 2008 and March 2009. Nearly 3,000 of the pacifiers, manufactured in China and imported by OKK Trading of Los Angeles, Calif., pose a serious problem, as the nipples can separate from the base and present a choking hazard. No incidents have been reported. The pacifiers were sold at dollar and discount stores around the country between August 2007 and January 2009. For information about the high chairs, contact 800-432-5437 or http://www.service.mattel.com or http://www.cpsc.gov. Regarding the pacifiers, phone 877-655-8697 or http://www.okktrading.com or http://www.cpsc.gov.

The gigantic Kroger grocery store chain is recalling foods made with peanut products, amid growing concerns about the salmonella epidemic that has taken at least eight lives and sickened nearly 600 people. The product recall, which is tied to products produced tied to the Peanut Corporation of America. The company deliberately sold peanut butter and peanut paste that was contaminated with the disease, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Kroger has stores scattered in 31 states. Among the items it is asking back, for fear that they might be contaminated with salmonella, are store-baked and store-packaged cookies and select cakes sold in its family of stores. Kroger officials say that no illnesses have been reported in connection with the cookies and cakes.

The number of people stricken by the peanut butter-triggered salmonella epidemic has blown up to 485 cases nationwide, federal health officials said Tuesday. By examining genetic markers, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been able to determine that new cases are emanating from the same outbreak strain. So far, peanut butter has sparked illnesses in 43 states and Canada, and may be responsible for the deaths of six people, the officials say. The Food and Drug Administration has traced the epidemic to a Georgia plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America, which makes peanut butter and peanut paste. Until the results of investigations can be confirmed, consumers should avoid cookies, cakes and other foods containing peanut butter, but jarred peanut butter should be fine, the investigators say.

Recall for infant formula spreads. The finding that laboratory tests have detected traces of contamination in several major brands of infant formula in the United States caused concern and confusion Wednesday, with a national consumer’s group and the Illinois attorney general demanding a Food and Drug Administration recall. But the federal agency says it had released inaccurate information on what chemicals were found in which top selling products. As worried parents called manufacturers looking for guidance about the presence of melamine, which had sickened thousands of Chinese babies this year, the FDA reiterated its position that the baby food is safe and parents should continue feeding it to their babies, contending the extremely low levels of contamination do not present a health danger.
South African lives could have been saved. The South African government would have prevented the premature deaths of 365,000 people earlier this decade if it had provided antiretroviral drugs to AIDS patients and widely administered drugs to help prevent pregnant women from infecting their babies, a Harvard researchers says. The policies,  which included rejecting antiretroviral drug help from foreign agencies, grew out of President Thabo Mbeki’s denial of the well-established scientific consensus that the HIV virus was the cause of AIDS and the essential role of antiretroviral drugs in treating it.