Pillsbury flour recalled due to salmonella fears
Fast facts:
- More than 12,000 cases of the recalled flour was sold at groceries including Publix nationwide
- Winn-Dixie has also sold the potentially affected flour
- The Food and Drug Administration has tweeted a warning to consumers: "Do not eat"
Pillsbury parent Hometown Food Co. is conducting a nationwide recall of flour packaged under the popular Pillsbury brand due to concerns the product may be contaminated with salmonella.
The Food and Drug Administration alerted consumers to the flour recall in a tweet on Monday. The agency urged consumers not to eat the recalled product sold at retailers including Publix and Winn-Dixie. Both grocery chains posted recall information on their websites, with Publix's notice stating roughly 12,185 cases of the product had been distributed nationwide. It wasn't clear how many packages are included in a case.
Publix and Winn-Dixie said five-pound bags of "Pillsbury Unbleached All Purpose Flour" were affected, all containing expiration dates of April 19, 2020, or April 20, 2020, and containing the lot numbers 8292 or 8293. The recall involves about 100,000 bags of flour, according to Consumer Reports.
Meijer, which operates 240 stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin, also posted a recall notice for the same lots and expiration dates.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the FDA had not posted a recall notice on its website, prompting U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D.-Connecticut, to call out the agency on social media. "FDA must protect consumers and bring clarity to this situation by immediately posting a recall notice," the lawmaker tweeted Tuesday.
The FDA posted a recall notice later in the day.
The recall is the second this year for flour potentially contaminated with salmonella. In January, General Mills recalled nearly 10,000 packages of unbleached flour sold nationwide, also with April 2020 best-if-used-by dates.
Salmonella is a bacteria that sickens about 1.2 million Americans and causes 450 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Food is the source for the overwhelming majority of the infection, which typically causes diarrhea and fever.
J.M. Smucker in July 2018 announced the sale of its U.S. baking business to private-equity firm Brynwood Partners for $375 million. Byrnwood Partners formed Chicago-based Hometown Food to oversee products that also includes the Hungry Jack and Martha White brands.
