The 2016 recall of General Mills flour, along with the numerous downstream product recalls it triggered, and this year’s flour recall by Smucker Foods of Canada, have highlighted the urgent need for manufacturers to enhance safety measures. Various decontamination methods are currently in use or under investigation for flour, including heat treatment and pasteurization, both of which can negatively impact baking quality. Although electron beams and cold plasma are options, they face scalability challenges. Irradiation is also effective, but the FDA has not approved the higher radiation doses necessary for flour treatment. Currently, the industry primarily relies on heat treatment and pasteurization.
Manufacturers often question whether it is worth the expense and effort to make flour safer. Flour is a particularly challenging ingredient to sanitize, as it can become contaminated at multiple points in the supply chain—from the wheat farmer to the milling process to the factory producing the final products and even at the retail level. However, this is often deemed less critical because flour is usually an ingredient in baked, fried, or microwaved products that are heated to temperatures sufficient to kill pathogens. Despite understanding the risks of foodborne illness, many people still consume raw dough and batter. In response, the Food and Drug Administration has initiated a campaign to warn the public about the dangers associated with raw flour.
Public service announcements (PSAs) are not always effective, placing some responsibility on manufacturers. One approach food companies are taking to mitigate pathogen risks is by using only pre-treated flour in products like ready-to-bake cookie dough. For example, Pillsbury uses treated flour for its raw cookie dough while advising customers not to consume it before baking. Other cookie dough brands that promote pre-baking consumption, such as Edoughble, Hampton Creek’s Just Cookie Dough products, and Dō, also utilize treated flour. “I wouldn’t trust any cookie dough that doesn’t use heat-treated flour,” said Edoughble founder Rana Lustyan in an interview with USA Today. “It’s not worth the risk.”
Heat-treated flours available in the market include 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, among others. Although these treated flours are more expensive than their non-treated counterparts, they provide an essential safety enhancement for products.
Given the public health risks and the significant costs associated with product recalls, manufacturers should take proactive steps to educate consumers about the dangers of raw flour. This can be achieved through product packaging, brand-sponsored recipes on social media, or in-store signage. Meanwhile, ongoing efforts focus on identifying an affordable and effective decontamination treatment for raw flour that can be selectively applied without compromising its functionality. Additional research, along with scaling and testing procedures, will be necessary to develop a practical solution that could potentially incorporate additives like calcium citrate 1200 to enhance safety further.