Cordova High Cookie Dough is Safe When Baked

Fourteen schools in Placer and Sacramento counties, including Cordova High School, may have used potentially contaminated frozen peanut butter cookies and cookie dough produced by Dough-To-Go Inc. of Santa Clara as part of school fundraising activities, the California Department of Health announced last week.

This announcement is an expansion of a warning linked to the recent national salmonella outbreak that caused eight deaths and hundreds of illnesses in 43 states. The peanut butter products sold by area schools carry the Dough-To-Go or Jane Dough labels and were sold between August 2008 and Jan. 16, 2009. Cordova High music students participated in a fundraising involving the above mentioned dough in October of 2008.

Harmony Resources Fundraising provided the product to Cordova High in the Folsom Cordova Unified School District, Franklin and Laguna Creek high schools in Elk Grove Unified, Larchmont Elementary in Twin Rivers Unified, Genevieve Didion Elementary in Sacramento City Unified, Del Oro High in the Loomis Union School District, Sierra Gardens School in Roseville City Unified and Spring View Middle and Whitney High schools in Rocklin Unified. Blue Ribbon Fundraising provided the product to Orchard Elementary in Twin Rivers Unified, the Shalom School and St. Robert School in Sacramento County, the Olive Grove Elementary in Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District and the Valley Springs Church in Roseville.

Dough to Go, the supplier of the Cordova High dough in question, released a letter explaining that the dough is only potentially dangerous if eaten raw. The letter has now been sent home with the students involved in last fall’s fundraiser. If the baking instructions on the container of properly followed, there should be no chance of any contamination.

The letter indicated that cautious customers that ”still have peanut butter cookie dough indicated by codes “O” (peanut butter cookie dough) or “U” (Assortment #1), can return their boxes to their school or group by February 20, 2009″. Customers returning their cookie dough are asked to include their name, address, and telephone number on the box top. Once in receipt of your returned item, DTG will ship a replacement box of either chocolate chip or peanut butter dough to the address written on your box. All possibly contaminated dough has been quarantined and the currently produced dough is safe.

For more information, contact Al Lundeen or Ken August at (916) 440-7259 at the department of health