General Mills Recalls Some Flour After Consumers Fall Ill

No more sticking fingers into cake batter or cookie dough.
On Tuesday, General Mills announced that it was voluntarily recallingvarious batches of its Gold Medal, Gold Medal Wondra and Signature flours that federal officials have potentially linked to illnesses in 38 people in 20 states caused by a strain of E. coli.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about half of those people became ill after making something at home with flour, according to a news release from General Mills.

Some of those who were sickened may have eaten raw dough or batter, the company said.
“In general, C.D.C. 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. “People should use safe food-handling practices when preparing such products, including following package directions for cooking at proper temperatures; washing hands, surfaces and utensils after contact with these types of products; avoiding cross-contamination; and refrigerating products properly.”
Most strains of E. coli are harmless, but E. coli O121, the one found in the 38 sick people, is a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. Seniors, children and people with compromised immune systems are most at risk.
General Mills said the pathogen had not been found in any of its flour products or in its flour manufacturing plant. “Flour is an ingredient that comes from milling wheat, something grown outdoors that carries with it risks of bacteria, which are rendered harmless by baking, frying or boiling,” the company said. Its website has information on the flour batches affected by the recall.
In 2009, Nestlé recalled some of Nestlé Toll House cookie dough after more than 70 people in 30 states became sick from E. coli 157: H7, another deadly variety. While no one ingredient was ever identified as the culprit, one hypothesis was that the E. coli in the product was passed by the flour to consumers who ate raw dough.
The announcement on Tuesday was the latest of several voluntary food recalls. In May, the C.D.C. announced a recall of frozen vegetables that had been processed by CRF Frozen Foods but ended up in products under a variety of brand names. The foods had been linked to a listeria outbreak.
Also in May the agency announced a voluntary recall of pistachios produced by Wonderful Pistachios, a division of the Wonderful Company, after it tied the nuts to 11 cases of Salmonella Montevideo and Salmonella Senftenberg. It linked 26 cases of poisoning in 12 states to a third strain of Salmonella found in sprouts produced by several companies from one lot of contaminated seeds that probably were the culprit, according to the agency.
“Contamination of food is an ongoing issue,” said Sandra Eskin, who directs work on food safety at the Pew Charitable Trusts. “The good news is that we’ve got technology like whole genome sequencing that’s helping identify outbreaks more quickly than in the past.”
Ms. Eskin also said that new food safety regulations that will take effect this September will make food manufacturers responsible for preventing contamination and give the Food and Drug Administration the ability to take action against a company if it is not taking steps to prevent food safety problems.

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