Three months after federal health officials declared the end to an E. coli outbreak linked to flour produced at its Buffalo, NY mill and sold under a variety of brand names, ADM Milling Co. is recalling more flour milled at that location for potential contamination with the same E. coli strain, according to an announcement on the company’s website.
In a statement issued October 3, 2019, the company said it was notified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that samples of flour from two production lots manufactured at its Buffalo mill on Dec. 9, 2018, and Dec. 21, 2018 tested positive for E. coli O26 and that the strain was the same one found at the mill earlier this year.
In May 2019, ADM Milling Co. issued a recall for Baker’s Corner flour after the E. coli O26 strain found in the flour was linked to a multistate E. coli outbreak. By the time the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) declared an end to the outbreak in July, recalls for four brands of flour (Pillsbury Best Bread Flour, King Arthur flour, ALDI Baker’s Corner flour, and Brand Castle cookie and brownie mixes) had been issued and 21 people in nine states had been sickened.
ADM says the current recall is an extension of the recalls issued in May and June and that it is in the process of notifying all of its retail, large pack and bulk customers. The voluntary recall includes all hard red wheat from the same source which was milled at its Buffalo facility on Dec. 9, 2018, and Dec. 21, 2018.
The first of ADM’s retail customers to issue a recall in connection with the most recent E. coli O26 finding is King Arthur Flour which issued a recall October 3, 2019 for 5 lb.-bags of Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 5 with the UPC: 071012010509 and Best Used by dates of 12/4/19 -1/15/20. Bags sold at Costco have the UPC: 071012012503 and Best Used By dates 12/04/19, 12/10/19, 12/20/19, 01/07/20, 01/15/20.
Symptoms of an E. coli infection include abdominal cramps and diarrhea that is sometimes bloody. These symptoms usually develop between one and five days of exposure. If you have recently handled or consumed raw flour and are experiencing these symptoms, see a doctor right away.
Pritzker Hageman’s experienced team of E. coli lawyers has represented people sickened by contaminated flour in other outbreaks and filed the first lawsuit in a 2016 E. coli outbreak linked to tainted flour at Pizza Ranch restaurants. Our client was a 7-year-old girl from Kansas. Contact our team for a free consultation by calling 1(888) 377-8900, sending a text to 612-261-0856 or using the form below.