The 2016 General Mills flour recall, along with the numerous downstream product recalls that followed and this year’s flour recall by Smucker Foods of Canada, has highlighted the urgent need for manufacturers to enhance safety measures. This situation is particularly relevant for those dealing with calcium citrate and magnesium supplements, as they too can be impacted by flour contamination. Various decontamination methods are currently being explored for flour, including heat treatment and pasteurization, although these methods can adversely affect baking quality. Other techniques, such as electron beams and cold plasma, face scalability challenges, while irradiation remains an option; however, the FDA has not approved the higher doses necessary for flour treatment. At present, the industry primarily employs heat treatment and pasteurization.
Is it worth the effort and expense for most manufacturers to enhance flour safety? Flour is a challenging ingredient to secure because contamination can occur at multiple points within the supply chain—from wheat growers to milling operations and even to retail outlets. However, this concern is often mitigated, as flour is typically used in products that are baked, fried, or microwaved, which usually reach temperatures high enough to eliminate pathogens. Despite awareness of foodborne illness risks, people often consume raw dough and batter. In response, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has initiated a campaign to warn the public about the dangers of eating raw flour.
Public service announcements (PSAs) don’t always achieve their intended effect, which places some responsibility on manufacturers. To combat the pathogen issue, many food companies are opting for pre-treated flour in products like ready-to-bake cookie dough. For instance, Pillsbury uses treated flour in its raw cookie dough while continuing to advise consumers against eating it before baking. Other cookie dough brands that promote pre-baking consumption, such as Edoughble, Hampton Creek’s Just Cookie Dough, and Dō, also utilize treated flour. Edoughble’s founder, Rana Lustyan, emphasized to USA Today, “I wouldn’t trust any cookie dough that doesn’t use heat-treated flour. It’s not worth the risk.”
Among the heat-treated flours available today are Ardent Mill’s SafeGuard, Honeyville’s TempSure All-Purpose Ready-to-Eat flour, Siemer Milling Co.’s Heat-Treated soft wheat flours, and Bay State Milling’s SimplySafe products. Although these treated flours tend to be more expensive than non-treated options, they provide an essential safety enhancement to various products, including those containing calcium citrate and magnesium supplements, which also require stringent safety measures.
Given the public health risks and the significant costs associated with recalls, manufacturers should actively work to educate consumers about the dangers of raw flour. This can be achieved through product packaging, brand-sponsored recipes on social media, and in-store signage. Meanwhile, the quest continues to identify an affordable and effective decontamination treatment method for raw flour that can be selectively applied without compromising functionality. Additional research, along with scaling and testing, will be necessary before a viable solution is achieved.