Great, Now Even Flour Can Carry E. Coli

Remember that frozen cookie dough that was making everyone sick? Well, apparently the e. coli might have been in the flour. Yes, the flour.

Food Safety News says that Nestle “put five laboratories to work to find E. coli O157:H7 in flour. It took 30 samples from each of 1,074 lots for a total of 32,220 batches that were all put to the test.”

It found that if you test enough flour, you can find some contaminated with e. coli. This usually wouldn’t be a big deal, because any pathogens in flour will be killed by baking, frying or boiling… until you realize that some people eat raw frozen pizzas.

“We actually had somebody in the company who admitted to doing this,” said an employee of ConAgra.

Seriously? Raw frozen pizzas? Raw cookie dough, yes, OK I understand that. But raw frozen pizzas? Really? That can’t be good…. can it?

Flour Investigated as E. coli Source[Food Safety News via Consumers Union]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.