Just recently, General Mills has announced their flour recall expansion. The move was inspired by the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announcement that four people from Minnesota and Wisconsin have developed E. coli illness. More importantly, the illness is connected to the flour produced by General Mills.
The recall has covered several varieties of Gold Medal and Signature Kitchens flour that has been produced on dates through 10th of February. In the announcement, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that the General Mills flour is the source of this outbreak. 46 people sickened throughout 21 states at time of publish.
Unfortunately, some of those individuals are suffering from hemolytic uremic syndrome, and General Mills said that the illness is connected with consumers who ate uncooked dough or batter made with raw flour. The company has stated clearly that, “No illnesses have been connected with flour that has been properly baked, cooked or handled.”
Throw Away Your Flour Products!
Even though the FDA points out that the E. Colli can be eliminated in food products by cooking them with heat, they are recommending that you should throw away the flour products if you’ve purchased them from General Mills.
The Symptoms?
Е. Coli symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps and a strong fever that lasts up to seven days. Hence, the people that are very old or very young, also people with compromised immune systems will have an increased risk of developing E. coli.
Here are the Things that Should Happen for E. Coli to Occur from Flour
This is from a statement which was released by General Mills:
“1. The flour a consumer is using has to contain the rare sub-types of E. Coli that can make you sick.
2. The consumer has to eat raw dough, batter or other uncooked food made with the flour, or handle the raw dough and not wash their hands.
3. The consumer’s individual health characteristics will impact of they get sick and how severely. Some consumers have mild symptoms and other get very sick. It is not always known who will get sick and who will not.”
General Mills press release
http://www.generalmills.com/flour