Iowa company recalls cookie dough sold to other firms

GARNER (AP) — An Iowa company is recalling the cookie dough it sold to Blue Bell Creameries and other food companies because it may be contaminated with listeria bacteria.

Dough-maker Aspen Hills notified customers about the recall on Sunday, but it wasn’t immediately clear whether any of this cookie dough had reached consumers because the Garner based company doesn’t sell directly to consumers. Aspen Hills did not say the companies or states where the dough was sold.

Aspen Hills’ cookie dough was implicated in last month’s Blue Bell recall because the Texas-based ice cream-maker said its tests confirmed the presence of listeria in the product.

Aspen Hills spokesman Jon Austin said the cookie dough was voluntarily recalled because the company found lapses in its food safety system — such as inadequate documentation and failure to wear proper uniforms — that could have allowed the product to become contaminated.

“Any one of these issues is a matter we would take seriously, but collectively they represent to us an unacceptable lapse in the standards our customers and we – expect,” Austin said.

The company discovered the problems after reviewing its practices after the recall announced last month.

Austin said no illnesses have been linked to the company’s products and none of the cookie dough it is recalling this week tested positive for listeria.

The recall includes 22,000 cases of cookie dough made between July 15 and September 30.