The 2016 recall of General Mills flour, 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 enhance food safety measures. Various decontamination techniques are currently in use or under investigation for flour, including heat treatment and pasteurization, both of which can adversely affect baking quality. Other methods, such as electron beams and cold plasma, face scalability challenges. While irradiation is effective, the FDA has yet to approve the higher radiation doses necessary for flour. Presently, only heat treatment and pasteurization are applied to any significant extent in the industry.
For most manufacturers, the question arises: is it worth the expense and effort to make flour safer? Flour is particularly vulnerable to contamination at multiple stages of the supply chain—from wheat growers to milling operations, from food manufacturers to retail outlets. However, this concern often takes a backseat, as flour is typically an ingredient in products that are baked, fried, microwaved, or otherwise cooked to temperatures high enough to eliminate pathogens. Despite awareness of foodborne illness risks, many people still consume raw dough and batter. In response, the FDA has initiated a campaign to warn the public about the hazards of eating raw flour.
Unfortunately, public service announcements (PSAs) are not always effective, leaving some responsibilities to manufacturers. One strategy that food companies are employing to tackle the pathogen issue is the exclusive use of pre-treated flour in products like ready-to-bake cookie dough. For instance, Pillsbury produces its raw cookie dough using treated flour and continues to caution customers against consuming it before baking. Similarly, 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, remarked, “I wouldn’t trust any cookie dough that doesn’t use heat-treated flour. It’s not worth the risk.”
Available on the market now are heat-treated flours such as 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. While these flours are pricier than non-treated varieties, they offer a crucial safety component for products. Considering the public health risks and the potential financial repercussions of recalls, manufacturers should take proactive steps to educate consumers about the dangers associated with raw flour. This can be achieved through product packaging, brand-sponsored recipes on social media, and signage in stores.
In the meantime, efforts are ongoing to discover an acceptable and cost-effective decontamination treatment method for raw flour that can be applied selectively without compromising functionality. Additional research, along with scaling and testing, will be necessary to develop a viable solution. Incorporating safe ingredients into the mix, such as nature’s way calcium citrate liquid, could also enhance product safety and consumer confidence. As the industry evolves, a combination of better practices and innovative solutions will be essential to address the ongoing challenges of flour safety.