General Mills Issues a Nationwide Flour Recall Over Salmonella Concerns
Updated: May 01, 2023Open up your cupboards and check your flour bags immediately!
There’s nothing worse than spending your hard-earned money on a product, only to later get sick or injured from it. These days, it seems like there’s a new product recall every week, from baby formula to tropical fruit. And this week, yet another popular food brand joined the recall ranks: General Mills. Here’s everything you need to know about the General Mills recall, including exactly which products are affected and what to do if you have them in your pantry.
What General Mills Product Is Recalled?
General Mills has recalled four different Gold Medal Flour varieties, according to the FDA. The flours that are affected by the recall are below. All have “Better If Used By” dates of March 27 and 28, 2024.
- Gold Medal Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 5-pound bag
- Gold Medal Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 10-pound bag
- Gold Medal Bleached All-Purpose Flour, 2-pound bag
- Gold Medal Bleached All-Purpose Flour, 5-pound bag
All other types of Gold Medal flours—including those of different sizes and with different Better By dates—are safe to consume.
Why Is This Flour Being Recalled?
General Mills discovered the presence of Salmonella Infantis, popularly just known as “salmonella,” in a five-pound bag of flour. According to USA Today, the FDA, CDC and General Mills have not yet confirmed whether or not this salmonella outbreak is tied to a salmonella flour outbreak that occurred last month.
So far, no hospitalizations have been explicitly linked to this event, though 12 people became sick and three people were hospitalized from last month’s outbreak. Salmonella can cause diarrhea, abdominal pains, nausea and fever. Symptoms typically show up six hours to six days after infection and stick around for four to seven days.
How Do I Know If I Have a Recalled Bag of Flour?
To check if your flour has been affected, be sure to check the UPC code located on the bag. If it is one of the following codes, it has been recalled:
- Â 000-16000-19610
- 000-16000-19580
- 000-16000-10710
- 000-16000-10610
Additionally, check if your flour has one of the two “Better If Used By” date codes below:
- Â 27MAR2024
- 28MAR2024
If your bag of flour has both one of the above UPCs and one of the above “Better If Used By” dates, it is part of the General Mills recall.
What Should I Do If I Have a Recalled Bag of Flour?
First things first, stop eating the flour and discard it immediately. (And as a reminder, never consume raw flour, including in cookie dough, as it risks salmonella poisoning.) If you think you may have contracted salmonella from the affected flours, speak to your doctor as soon as possible. And lastly, contact General Mills Customer Relations at (800) 230-8103 to request a refund for the defective product.
