In its report of the outbreak, the CDC plainly stated, “Do not eat raw dough or batter” made from any flour, as any ingredient in the dough could be contaminated.
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“In general, CDC recommends that people not eat raw dough or batter intended for cooking or baking, and children not be provided raw dough to play with”, an agency statement said. The cases were traced back to flour produced in November at the General Mills facility in Kansas City, Mo.
“Out of an abundance of caution, a voluntary recall is being made”, the company said in a statement.
So it’s important for the public to know that some brands of flour have recently been recalled due to links to a potential E. coli outbreak.
General Mills said it hasn’t been contacted directly by any customers reporting illnesses.
The health department said at this time there are no known illnesses in the Springfield area associated with the E. Coli outbreak.
The Center for Disease Control learned that approximately half of the individuals reported making a homemade item with flour just before they fell ill. Seniors, the very young and people with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.
Only a month after a massive frozen foods recall from CRF Frozen Foods, General Mills announced yesterday that it is voluntarily recalling 10 million pounds of flour because of an E. coli scare. According to a press release issued by General Mills, so far, E. coli O121 has not been found in any of the company’s flour products nor in the flour manufacturing facility.
Flour comes from milling wheat, grown outdoors where bacteria are often present.
Consumers should return the recalled flour to the store where it was purchased for a full refund.
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The recall includes several varieties of Gold Medal and Signature Kitchens flour that were sold at Safeway, Albertsons and other supermarkets. Contact General Mills with any questions. Its website has information on the flour batches affected by the recall.
