Latest E. Coli Outbreak Linked to Unusual Source

By Natalie Moore Posted July 6, 2016

• Toss it if you’ve got it! You’ll want to rid your kitchen of this contaminated food ASAP!
• Discover the one way you should never eat this food
• Use this website to find out if your household is in danger of this growing outbreak… 

Dear Living Well Daily Reader,

Bloody diarrhea, severe stomach cramps, kidney failure, and potentially even death…

If you want to avoid these health outcomes, then you’ll need to check your pantry immediately.

E. coli is back.

And this time, it’s in an unsuspecting source.

You see, this outbreak isn’t from processed meats or perforated steaks. No, this time, it’s in over 10 million pounds of an everyday food.

In fact, this food is so common there’s a great chance it’s in your kitchen right now.

Don’t worry, though, Living Well Daily has got your back… we will share with you the exact recall information in just a bit.

So what’s this unlikely yet common source?

Flour.

Widened Recall

General Mills (GM) first initiated a recall back in May. However, the recall was expanded to over 10 million pounds of this potentially toxic wheat powder just last week because of four new related food poisoning cases.

The recall includes brands such as Gold Medal Flour, Signature Kitchens Flour, and Gold Medal Wondra Flour.

The CDC isolated a Shiga toxin-producing strain of E. coli (STEC O121) from samples of General Mills flour collected from the homes of ill folks in Arizona, Colorado, and Oklahoma. This strain can cause serious kidney damage, and even death in some cases.

Forty-two people in 21 states have already fallen ill from the contaminated flour. Of these, 11 people were hospitalized.

At this point, no cases of kidney failure or deaths associated with the outbreak have been reported. But with such a large quantity of potentially contaminated product, this could change quickly.

Folks with compromised immune systems, seniors, and small children are at greatest risk. Bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps usually occur a few days after consumption. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should seek emergency medical treatment stat.

Dangerous Dough

According to a statement from GM, health officials linked an illness to raw dough or batter made with products produced last fall. These products are covered in the recall.

CDC officials warn that eating raw doughs and batters can have devastating health results. “Even tasting a small amount could make you sick.” This includes any raw flour products, regardless of whether they are on the recall list or not.

E. coli O121 can be destroyed through heat. This means you should always thoroughly cook, bake, fry, or boil any foods made with flour. In addition, be sure to thoroughly clean all cookware, utensils, and surfaces that have made contact with flour.

The CDC reports that if you are storing your flour without its original packaging or are unsure of its origins, you should throw it out immediately. Thoroughly sanitize the container before using it again.

If you have flour in its original packaging, you can click here to see if it is part of the recall. Any flour matching the recall criteria should be tossed instantly.

For questions, you can reach General Mills through this web page or call 1-800-230-8103.

Live well,

Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily

Sources

^[1] Flour recall

^[2] Multistate Outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O121 Infections Linked to Flour

Written By Natalie Moore

Natalie Moore is a dedicated health researcher with a passion for finding healthy, natural, and science-based solutions. After a decade of direct healthcare experience in western and natural medicine, she was involved in public health research before joining Living Well Daily.

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