Recall of Gold Medal Flour for Salmonella Contamination
Media Contacts
U.S. PIRG Education Fund
PHILADELPHIA — General Mills announced Wednesday it is recalling all five-pound bags of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour because of potential Salmonella contamination.
So far no illnesses have been linked to this contamination, but the Centers for Disease Control estimates approximately 1 million people get sick annually from this bacteria.
Consumers should look for the UPC code 000-16000-19610-0 and a better if used by date of April 20, 2020 on their Gold Medal Unbleached Flour packaging. If it is a contaminated batch, they should discard the flour and contact General Mills Consumer Relations at 1-800-230-8103.
Adam Garber, U.S. PIRG Consumer Watchdog, issued the following statement just days after the organization’s new report showed concerning trends in food contamination:
“We applaud General Mills for proactively recalling this potentially hazardous flour from stores and homes. Unfortunately, many may not hear about this recall, leaving them exposed to contracting a serious illness. And, without more information about which stores sold the contaminated flour, it will be hard, if not impossible, to appropriately target warnings.
“Americans should be confident that the flour they are baking birthday cakes with or using for home-made bread is safe. We should focus on preventing contamination prior to reaching stores. But, when that fails, we need a system that doesn’t rely on the chance affected people see the recall. Instead, we need vigorous mechanisms that alert individuals through in-store and direct notifications, and disclose which stores sold the potentially contaminated food.”