Researchers at the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition attribute the health risks of consuming raw dough or batter to one ingredient: flour. But the Food and Drug Administration is now reporting an outbreak of sicknesses linked to flour used in various dough. And even though the summer heat may inspire some homemade ice cream, the CDC and FDA cautions against stirring up a batch of cookie dough flavor. GM produces Gold Medal, Signature Kitchens and Gold Medal Wondra and the company has already recalled 10 million pounds of the product. The recalled varieties include unbleached, all-purpose, and self-rising flours.
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“Flour has a long shelf life, and bags of flour may be kept in peoples’ homes for a long time”, FDA officials said.
It’s basically a universally known thing that eating cookie dough straight from the mixing bowl is bad for you because of the salmonella risk from raw eggs.
There’s always been a rumored danger linked with eating raw cookie dough.
There is now a warning concerning all cookie dough lovers. So if you don’t cook it, any bacteria in the flour isn’t killed.
The federal investigation revealed that some of these patients had eaten or handled raw dough made with General Mills flour produced in a Kansas City, Mo., facility.
Children under the age of five, the elderly, and those with weak immune systems are most at risk for E.coli infections.
Cooking food to 140ºF kills E. coli, but most flour does not go through a “kill-step” because it might stop baked goods from rising. But in certain instances, it could lead to a type of kidney failure known as hemolytic uremic syndrome.
The FDA warning comes on the tails of a General Mills flour recall earlier this month. Boiling, baking, roasting, microwaving and frying are considered “kill steps” that prevent the bacteria from surviving.
The outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O121 is believed to be triggered by contaminated flour. The FDA and CDC warned against allowing young children to do “flour crafts”, a popular new trend circulating online.
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The culprit this time: raw flour. In addition, all batters and doughs should be baked or cooked before eating. Be aware that flour may spread easily because of its powdery nature.
