Uncooked Flour: A Hazardous Ingredient?

Why The Concern?

In recent years, there have been numerous recalls and illnesses associated with uncooked flour and products containing uncooked flour, like boxed cake mix. While it is appropriate to be concerned about getting sick from those batches of recalled flour, that concern should apply to all brands and types of flour, regardless of a recall.

Flour is a raw agricultural product. Wheat is grown outside in a field where birds and other animals fly over and wander through the field which can introduce contaminants. The wheat is harvested and taken to a mill, and ground into powder. Flour is not treated in the factory to destroy potential pathogens such as E. coli. These bacteria will eventually be killed by cooking, baking, or frying food.  When you use flour at home as an ingredient in recipes, treat it with the same care as raw eggs and meat. Symptoms of E.coli infection can include stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting. Severe infections lead to kidney damage.

While efforts are taken to reduce the risk, due to the nature of the flour production process, bacterial hazards are always a concern. Flour has been implicated in many food-borne illness outbreaks over the years. It is for this reason that many manufacturers of flour and products containing raw flour, like cake and brownie mix, include a warning on the package to not consume raw dough or batter.

Avoid Cross Contamination

When making food that contains raw flour, be sure to wash your hands, countertops, and mixing bowls thoroughly. Be mindful of cross contamination. This is when contaminants are accidentally transferred from one surface to another. Examples of cross contamination include placing raw cookie dough onto a baking sheet and not washing your hands before handling baked cookies or if you use a measuring cup to measure flour, then use the same cup to measure sugar.

If you have any recalled flour in your kitchen, the FDA recommends that you discard it. That said, if you already used some of the recalled flour, as long as the product was thoroughly cooked or baked, and you handled the raw ingredients appropriately, there is little need for concern. You should always handle raw flour as though it is contaminated, similar to raw meat.

Here is a standard chocolate chip cookie recipe found on the back of many popular brands' bags of chocolate chips with food safety practices written in. Test yourself. Do you follow these often unwritten steps when baking cookies at home?

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ¼ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1, 12 oz bag chocolate chips

Directions

• Wash your hands using warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds. Dry hands with a single-use towel. Use the towel to turn off the water.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Cream butter with the sugars in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer.
• Crack the eggs into a small bowl, then add to the butter/sugar mixture to ensure you don't accidently include pieces of shell. Because you touched raw eggs, wash your hands as described above.
• Beat the eggs into the butter/sugar mixture while scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula until well-mixed. Mix in the vanilla.
• Measure the flour into a small bowl. Because you touched raw flour, wash your hands as described above. Mix in the baking soda and salt.
• Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and beat until just combined.
• Stir in the chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. If any dough splashed up the side of the bowl and touched your hand, or you put your thumb inside the bowl, wash your hands as described above.
• Drop rounded teaspoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet or baking pan. If your hands touched the raw dough, wash your hands as described above.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden brown.
• Cool cookies on wire racks, foil, or wax paper. Store in an airtight container when completely cool.
• Wash the mixing bowls, measuring cups, utensils, and counter-tops with warm soapy water or kitchen cleaning spray, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Sneaking a Taste

Another concern related to the topic of baking cookies is sneaking a taste of the dough. Most people think that the hazard is Salmonella bacteria from the raw eggs. While that is a concern, there is also the risk of getting sick from harmful bacteria, like E. coli, in the raw flour. While it may seem like a rite of passage for young children to have the opportunity to lick the spoon while cleaning up, that seemingly innocent action can lead to serious illness, especially for high-risk populations: elderly, young children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems.

This information may seem startling, and consumers are correct to be concerned, but following the simple practices of separating raw food from cooked food, washing your hands many times throughout the food preparation process, and properly cooking food before tasting it are easy steps to follow to keep your friends and family healthy.