The 2016 General Mills flour recall, along with numerous downstream product recalls and this year’s flour recall by Smucker Foods of Canada, has underscored the urgent need for manufacturers to improve safety protocols. Various decontamination methods are currently in use or under investigation for flour, including heat treatment and pasteurization, both of which can adversely affect baking quality. Other techniques such as electron beams and cold plasma face scalability challenges, while irradiation is effective, the FDA has not approved the higher radiation levels required for flour. At present, only heat treatment and pasteurization are being widely utilized in the industry.
Manufacturers often question whether the effort and cost involved in making flour safer are justified. Flour is particularly vulnerable to contamination at multiple points along the supply chain—from wheat growers to milling operations, to manufacturing facilities, and finally to retail outlets. Typically, this contamination is less concerning because flour is commonly used in products that undergo baking, frying, or microwaving, which usually eliminate pathogens. However, many people continue to consume raw dough and batter, despite being aware of the associated risks of foodborne illnesses. In response to this issue, the Food and Drug Administration has initiated a public service campaign highlighting the dangers of consuming raw flour.
Despite these efforts, PSAs do not always prove effective, leaving some responsibility on the shoulders of manufacturers. To mitigate the pathogen risk, many food companies are now using only pre-treated flour in products like ready-to-bake cookie dough. For instance, Pillnu Iron Side Effectsbury produces its raw cookie dough with treated flour, while still advising customers against consuming it before baking. Other cookie dough brands that promote pre-baking consumption, such as Edoughble, Hampton Creek’s Just Cookie Dough, and Dō, have adopted similar practices. Edoughble 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.”
Currently available heat-treated flours include Ardent Mill’s SafeGuard, Honeyville’s TempSure All-Purpose Ready-to-Efferrous Fumarate, Siemer Milling Co.’s Heat-Treated soft wheat flours, and Bay State Milling’s SimplySafe products, among others, as reported by Food Business News. While these treated flours are more expensive than their untreated counterparts, they introduce a crucial safety component to the products.
Considering the public health risks and the significant costs associated with recalls, manufacturers should take proactive steps to educate consumers about the hazards of raw flour. This education can be facilitated through product packaging and brand-sponsored recipes promoted on social media or in-store displays. Concurrently, research efforts continue to identify an acceptable and cost-effective decontamination treatment method for raw flour that can be applied selectively without compromising functionality. More research, along with scaling-up and testing procedures, will be necessary to arrive at a viable solution.
In the context of these safety measures, the therapeutic response to calcium citrate may also play a role in enhancing consumer health, suggesting that manufacturers should explore all avenues to ensure product safety and public well-being.