Flour Safety: Don’t Let E. coli become the Secret Ingredient in your Cake.
Earlier this month, we started to see information coming out about a foodborne illness outbreak from an unlikely source – flour. As of early-April, 12 people had fallen ill, and three people had been hospitalized as a result of flour contaminated with Salmonella. While the outbreak is still in its early stages, no individuals have died because of their illness. A specific source has not yet been identified in the outbreak, but all who have fallen ill have reported eating raw batter or dough due before developing symptoms – and flour has been identified as the only common ingredient in these batters and doughs.
Perhaps this isn’t a surprise if you pay attention to outbreaks and the foods implicated in those outbreaks. But for some of you it may come as a surprise. Who among us didn’t grow up begging mom for some cookie dough as she was making chocolate chip cookies?
Consuming raw cookie dough (or any dough or batter) has always been risky. I remember my mother warning my brother, sister, and I about the raw egg in the product. But, more and more, we are seeing evidence that consuming raw dough of any sort may very well be a terrible idea – especially for young children. While raw eggs are still a concern, the raw flour used in these products has become almost as problematic. Both E. Coli and Salmonella have been implicated in recent flour outbreaks. Between 2017 and 2022, there were appropriately 22 recalls involving flour.
… recent outbreaks help illustrate the reason why flour should be treated just as we would treat any potentially hazardous food product in our kitchens.
Contrary to the belief of many, raw flour is not a ready to eat food. In fact, Consumer Reports recently noted that flour was among the top 10 risky recalled foods. These recent outbreaks help illustrate the reason why flour should be treated just as we would treat any potentially hazardous food product in our kitchens.
I have received questions over the last several years about the causes of the flour outbreaks. Sure, most who have reached out know that E. Coli or Salmonella is the agent that caused the outbreak, but how did the flour become contaminated with these bacteria? While it is incredibly hard to say the exact method by which the flour was contaminated, it most likely occurred in the field. While most farmers make use of the best methods available to follow Good Agricultural Practices, it is always possible that wheat in the field could become contaminated when it comes into contact with animal feces, contaminated irrigation water, or run off from near-by pastures and fields. Once contaminated, the processing of flour does not normally include a pathogen reduction step, such as heat treating, to kill the bacteria so it is easy to see how the contaminated flour may find its way into your kitchen.
So, what can you do to protect your guests and your business? Treat flour like it is potentially hazard food because it really is! If you run a bakery or make bakery products in your operation, be sure to sanitize the work surfaces before and after using it. Eliminate cross contamination just as you would do with a meat or poultry product. Don’t allow employees to eat raw dough or batters, and make sure you don’t have any recipes (such as truffles, icing, or cookies) which involve flour but no kill step before serving. Last, don’t serve raw cookie dough in ice creams or other desserts without making sure that the product is an edible cookie dough made with heat-treated flour and pasteurized or no eggs. Risk Nothing.
A Little Poultry Safety Information
Chicken is the number one species of protein consumed by Americans – we eat about 80 pounds of it per year. Outbreaks of foodborne illness have long been associated with poultry and eggs usually by undercooking it or cross-contamination of other foods by raw poultry. Recent concerns about avian or bird flu put the direct focus on our fowl food with concerns about whether this awful disease can transfer from birds to humans.
The Basic Principles of Food Safety
Every food establishment uses, processes, and sells food in different ways. However, the general issues and key principles of food safety remain the same, whatever the style of the operation. All food safety training programs should contain the “big 3” factors that could cause food to become unsafe. Food must be kept out of harms way from human errors, but if you don’t train food workers what they are, they won’t know why these factors are so important to your operation. The basics can make us or break us in one or maybe two food handling mistakes.
Be Aware When You Prepare – Food Prep Tips
The subject of food preparation covers some very broad, basic principles within food safety, with many steps associated with “risk” in some recipes. Certainly, preparation steps are where the most mistakes have occurred if a foodborne illness should occur. Outbreaks usually happen when more than one mistake occurs during prep, but sometimes it only takes one. Cooking is the biggest risk for raw foods, but all foods become ready-to-eat foods at some point in final preparation steps and that’s where the most care is required.
Food Gloves & Latex Allergy Education
Politicians joke about the endless stretch of rubber chicken dinners they may consume in an election year. For people with a latex allergy, such a prospect may be no laughing matter. While latex serves as an effective barrier glove material and has the best fit because of its elasticity, the risks associated should not be ignored. The solution is not simple and many options are available for operators today. It should always be mentioned that handwashing (before putting on gloves) is always the primary barrier to contamination and gloves are considered a good secondary barrier.
