Three weeks ago, E. coli in ADM Milling wheat triggered a recall for ALDI’s Baker’s Corner flour after it was linked to an ongoing E. coli outbreak. Now, a second brand of flour, King Arthur, is being recalled.
In the recall posted on the FDA’s website, King Arthur said it has received notice from ADM Milling Co. that wheat used to make several lots of King Arthur flour has been linked to an ongoing E. coli outbreak. At the time of the recall, June 13, 2019, no illnesses had been reported in connection with King Arthur flour, the company said.
It is not clear if other flours may also have been made with the contaminated ADM Milling wheat, or why it has taken so long for another potentially contaminated product to be identified.
E. coli Recall and Outbreak
The outbreak has sickened 17 people in eight states, hospitalizing three of them. California, Connecticut, Missouri and New Jersey each reported one illness. Pennsylvania and Rhode Island each reported two and New York and Ohio each reported five.
On May 23, 2019, ADM Milling Co and ALDI recalled 5-pound bags of Baker’s Corner flour after health officials linked the product to the outbreak using Whole Genome Sequencing. The test identified the “genetic fingerprint” of the E. coli O26 outbreak strain in an unopened bag of flour where one of the case-patients ate before becoming ill.
The people sickened in this outbreak range in age from 7 years to 86 years old. They reported onset-of-illness dates ranging from December 11, 2018, to April 18, 2019. They told health officials investigating the outbreak that they recalled eating or tasting raw batter or dough before they became ill. Two of them specifically recalled that the dough was made with flour or baking mix from ALDI.
This is not the first time a food poisoning outbreak has been linked to flour. In 2016, Pritzker Hageman filed the first lawsuit against Pizza Ranch on behalf of a 7-year-old girl from Kansas who was sickened in an E. coli outbreak associated with eating at a Pizza Ranch restaurant. That outbreak was linked to contaminated flour.
If you have been sickened in this outbreak, you can contact our E.coli Team for a free consultation by calling 1 (888) 377-8900 (toll-free); sending a text to 612-261-0856. Or, by completing the form below. The consultation is free and there is no obligation.