Gold Medal Flour Recalled Over Salmonella

Time to check your cupboards: General Mills is recalling some bags of its Gold Medal flour after salmonella was found in a sample. The voluntary recall covers two-, five- and 10-pound bags of Gold Medal Unbleached and Bleached All Purpose Flour with “better if used by” dates of March 27, 2024, and March 28, 2024, according to the FDA recall page. Impacted consumers should discard the flour and call General Mills Consumer Relations at 1-800-230-8103. Both the FDA and the CDC advise against eating anything that contains flour until it has been cooked, as heat kills salmonella and other bacteria that can be found in raw floor, such as E. coli.

What's not clear, as USA Today reports, is whether this recall is connected to a multi-state salmonella outbreak those same agencies have been investigating for a month. Health officials reminded consumers in March not to eat raw cookie dough or cake batter due to the outbreak, CBS News reported at the time. So far, a dozen illnesses and three hospitalizations have been linked to the outbreak, but no deaths have been reported, and no brand of flour has been linked to the outbreak yet. "We are continuing to educate consumers that flour is not a ‘ready to eat’ ingredient," a General Mills spokesperson says. "Anything made with flour must be cooked or baked before eating.” (More General Mills stories.)