A well-known cause of food-borne illness is the E. coli bacteria, usually associated with moist foods, such as meat or bagged salad leaves. In solving a food illness mystery of 2016, researchers determined that Shiga-producing E. coil bacteria can survive in raw flour, an arid host, according to an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Although it is a low-moisture food, raw flour can be a vehicle for food-borne pathogens,” reported a team of scientists led by Samuel Crowe. General Mills recalled an estimated 45 million pounds of flour last year after illnesses were traced back to its Kansas City mill. Some 63 people in 24 states became ill from E. coli infections during the outbreak.
Tracking down the culprit was trickier than the average investigation of food poisoning, said Science News. Two of the ill people recalled eating raw cookie dough before getting sick and when they provided investigators with a picture of the flour they used to make the dough, the bags came from the same mill. “Pretty unusual,” said Crowe. The FDA analyzed the flour and found E. coli bacteria. Raw tortilla dough also was blamed in causing illnesses.