General Mills expands recall of flour possibly contaminated with E. coli strain

Gold Medal Flour is one of a handful of products affected by General Mills' flour recall due to potential E. coli contamination. For images of all the recalled products, visit GeneralMills.com/flour. (Courtesy General Mills)

General Mills has expanded its flour recall to include more lots of Gold Medal Flour, Signature Kitchens Flour and Gold Medal Wondra Flour. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention, the products may be contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC O121). The company issued its initial voluntary recall May 31, and since then 42 people from 21 states have been sickened and 11 have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.

The most recent illness started on June 8, the CDC said in its release. Since then, Indiana has been added to the list of states with reported ill people.

In an advisory issued Tuesday, June 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against consuming raw cookie dough or other dough that uses raw flour that could be affected, as doing so could lead to illness. The FDA also advised restaurants and caregivers against allowing children to play with raw dough.

For a list of the recalled products, visit CDC.gov. To view images of the recalled products, visit GeneralMills.com/Flour.

The CDC advised consumers who purchased the products not to consume them and to dispose of them. The agency also advised throwing away any stored flour that isn’t marked with the brand or “better by” date as a precaution.

Symptoms of STEC infection include often-bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps that exhibit an average of three to four days after swallowing the germ.

In its Friday, July 1 update, the CDC said its investigation is ongoing and that it will update the public when more information is available.