From today's New York Times: General Mills Recalls Some Flour After Consumers Fall Ill
On Tuesday, General Mills announced that it was voluntarily recalling various 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.
I suspect a lot of Fresh Loafers have these flours in their cupboard. I guess this is why they tell you not to eat raw dough or batter. One of my favorite activities with my toddler son is letting him "help" me knead and shape dough. I guess I just have to make sure he doesn't eat it.
Cooking will kill it but the infectious dose is very low 10 to 100 cells and the impacts can be very bad especially for children,the elderly, and immuno-compromised. Kids can suffer liver failure.
You know, considering that probably 99+% of home baking in the US involves eggs and/or dairy it's surprising that the flour is the first to be pointed at.
Suppose 12 people baked with gold medal flour and fell ill with a particular strain of e.coli
3 of them also used Horizon Milk, 3 used Real Dairy milk, 3 used soy milk and 3 used rice milk.
3 used eggs from Costco, 3 Eggs from somewhere else, etc.
If the flour is the common denominator for all 12, and there is no other common denominator, blame the flour.
http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2016/o121-06-16/index.html
Here is the CDC page. They are pretty thorough, usually, in their investigations before pointing any fingers. Sometimes it is the news piece that can be somewhat ....inaccurate, shall we say.
E.coli is very nasty. I just bought some Gold Medal but it is in my flour bin and the bag is long gone. So I either toss it or continue with it. It was probably processed here (Minneapolis) at their main plant, I've been baking with it for a week or 2 and all are fine (tho I don't eat raw dough).
Stay healthy!