The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning against people consuming raw dough, including cookie dough, amid an outbreak of infections causing people across the country to be sickened by a strain of E. coli bacteria.
The FDA says eating raw dough or batter — whether it’s for bread, cookies, pizza or tortillas — could make you and your kids sick.
There are also lots of activities and crafts for kids using flour, but the FDA says parents should avoid giving kids raw dough or baking mixes that contain flour to play with, as flour, regardless of the brand, may contain bacteria that cause disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local officials, has been investigating the outbreak of infections.
The FDA says raw dough eaten or handled by some patients who became ill was made with General Mills flour produced in a Kansas City, Missouri, facility. General Mills conducted a voluntary recall of 10 million pounds of flour sold under three brand names: Gold Medal, Signature Kitchen’s, and Gold Medal Wondra.
The varieties include unbleached, all-purpose, and self-rising flours.
Flour has a long shelf life, and many people store bags of flour for a long time. If you have any of these recalled items in your home, you should throw them away, the FDA says.
Some of the recalled flours had been sold to restaurants that allow children to play with dough made from the raw flour while waiting for their meals. CDC is advising restaurants not to give customers raw dough.
