Home bakers told: don’t lick the bowl

HOME bakers should avoid licking the mixing bowl because uncooked flour can carry dangerous bugs such as

E.coli, health watchdogs have warned. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning after a food poisoning outbreak was linked to a batch of flour produced there in 2016.

Dozens of people across the US were struck down by a strain of E.coli O121 that was later traced back to a mill in Kansas City, Missouri. As a result, 10 million pounds of flour were recalled.

Now, the UK’S Food Standards Agency (FSA) has echoed the same warning over eating raw flour, citing outbreaks of Salmonella and E.coli in the US and New Zealand.

It comes after raw eggs, widely thought of as the main health danger associated with raw cake or cookie batters, were declared safe to eat by the FSA.

Bacteria that can cause infections and illness is killed when flour is cooked.

Commercially made cookie-dough ice cream products use treated flour and do not pose a health risk, the FDA said. A spokesman at the FSA said: “Whether it is safe to eat raw cookie dough would depend on the ingredients.

“However, we would advise that people should not eat raw cookie dough unless manufacturers’ instructions say that it is safe to do so, because dough is generally not intended to be eaten in that state and some ingredients may not be safe to eat without cooking. It is always advisable to follow manufacturers’ instructions when using food ingredients.

“While we are not aware of any particular current concerns in the UK with flour, we are aware that historical outbreaks of Salmonella and E.coli [in the US and New Zealand] have been linked with raw flour.

“Therefore, we do not advise eating uncooked flour or products containing uncooked flour because there is the potential for it to be contaminated. Adequate cooking will ensure any harmful bacteria are killed.”

‘We do not advise eating uncooked flour as there is the potential for it to be contaminated’