You’ve been warned not to eat raw cookie dough before and if you ever needed a better reason than “you could get sick from the raw eggs,” we have one. Hometown Food Company recently made a voluntary recall on certain Pillsbury Unbleached All-Purpose Flour products, stating that there is a possibility that they are contaminated with salmonella.
Check the Date
#RecallAlert: Hometown Food Company announces voluntary recall on select Pillsbury Unbleached All Purpose Flour products because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. The flour products were sold through a limited number of retailers including Publix & Winn-Dixie. Do not eat. pic.twitter.com/Zv6fv61C8w
— USDA Food Safety (@USDAFoodSafety) March 11, 2019
A little over 12,000 cases of the Pillsbury flour has already been distributed to retailers such as Winn-Dixie and Publix. If you’re considering buying Pillsbury flour, look for lot number 8292, with a “best if used by” date of April 19, 2020, and 8293 with a “best if used by” date of April 20, 2020. [1]
Winn-Dixie reported that there have been “no reports of illnesses associated with this recall.” Publix has issued a statement urging customers not to consume the flour if they purchased it. Publix also said that customers should throw away or return the flour for a refund. [2]
Don’t Eat Cookie Dough
The US Food and Drug Administration reminded consumers that this is why you shouldn’t eat raw dough. Flour of any sort can carry bacteria that can make you sick if it isn’t heated to a certain temperature. In an FDA statement Leslie Smoot, Ph.D., a senior advisor in FDA’s Office of Food Safety, said that “Flour is derived from a grain that comes directly from the field and typically is not treated to kill bacteria.” [3]
Raw eggs aren’t the only problem when it comes to consuming rough dough; you have to be looking at the other ingredients as well. Although salmonella is not known to be a deadly disease, it does cause over 1.2 million illnesses in the U.S. annually. [4]
Notes:
- ^Christina Maxouris, Cnn. “More than 12,000 cases of Pillsbury flour recalled over salmonella concerns.” CNN, 12 Mar. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/03/11/health/salmonella-flour-recall/index.html. (go back ↩)
- ^“Pillsbury Unbleached All-Purpose Flour | Recalls | Publix Super Markets.” Publix Super Markets, 12 Mar. 2019, corporate.publix.com/about-publix/newsroom/recalls/pillsbury-unbleached-all-purpose-flour. (go back ↩)
- ^Of the Commissioner, Office. “Consumer Updates – Raw Dough’s a Raw Deal and Could Make You Sick.” 12 Mar. 2019, www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm508450.htm. (go back ↩)
- ^“Salmonella Homepage | CDC.” 26 Feb. 2019, www.cdc.gov/salmonella/index.html. (go back ↩)
