General Mills expands flour recall after outbreak of E. coli

The FDA means it this time: Stop eating raw cookie dough. In addition to staying away from raw cookie dough and cake batter, parents should be on the lookout for homemade Play-Doh, a popular Pinterest craft made with flour. The danger of raw eggs carrying Salmonella is well known, but the FDA is now warning flour is another culprit of bacterial stomach infections. So if an animal heeds the call of nature in the field, bacteria from the animal waste could contaminate the grain, which is then harvested and milled into flour.

The thing is: The latest warnings from the Food and Drug Administration are about contaminated flour-not just raw eggs-meaning that you shouldn’t taste the batter before you bake it, even when it’s egg-free.

The bacteria are killed during cooking or processing through boiling, baking, roasting, microwaving or frying. However, most of us probably aren’t sampling bread dough or breaded chicken breasts while they’re still raw.

“To date E. coli O121 has not been found in any General Mills flour products or in the flour manufacturing facility, and the company has not been contacted directly by any consumer reporting confirmed illnesses related to these products”, the company said, adding that some of the ill individuals also consumed raw dough or batter.

No one has had problems with kidney failure, as can happen with these cases, nor has anyone died. Seniors, the very young, and persons with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.

The FDA cautioned that some recalled flours were sold to restaurants that provide children with balls of raw dough to play with while they wait for their meals.

Federal health officials on Friday widened an already big recall of flour after four more people got sick from food poisoning linked to the flour.

General Mills voluntarily recalled 10 million pounds of unbleached, all-purpose and self-rising flours sold under the brand names Gold Medal, Signature Kitchen’s and Gold Medal Wondra.

The company advised consumers to properly clean all surfaces, hands and utensils after contact with flour or dough.