General Mills Voluntary Recalls Flour Due to E.Coli Outbreak

BALTIMORE (WJZ)—General Mills is voluntary recalling some of their flour due to a multistate outbreak of E.coli.

The company says  they are collaborating with health officials to investigate an ongoing, multistate outbreak of E. coli O121 that may be potentially linked to Gold Medal flour, Wondra flour, and Signature Kitchens flour (sold in Safeway, Albertsons, Jewel, Shaws, Vons, United, Randalls, and Acme).

General Mills says to date  E. coli O121 has not been found in any General Mills flour products or in the flour manufacturing facility, and the company has not been contacted directly by any consumer reporting confirmed illnesses related to these products.

"State and federal authorities have been researching 38 occurrences of illnesses across 20 states related to a specific type of E. coli (E. coli O121), between December 21, 2015, and May 3, 2016. While attempting to track the cause of the illness, CDC found that approximately half of the individuals reported making something homemade with flour at some point prior to becoming ill. Some reported using a General Mills brand of flour," said the company.

The recall affects the following retail flour products that could be currently in stores or in consumers' pantries.

It includes six SKUs (stock keeping units or UPC codes) of Gold Medal flour, 2 SKU's of Signature Kitchens flour and 1 SKU of Gold Medal Wondra flour.

"As a leading provider of flour for 150 years, we felt it was important to not only recall the product and replace it for consumers if there was any doubt, but also to take this opportunity to remind our consumers how to safely handle flour," said Liz Nordlie, president of General Mills Baking division.

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