TUKWILA, WASH. – A flour recall by General Mills, Inc. has broadened into commercial channels with the July 9 announcement that Continental Mills has issued a recall of its Krusteaz blueberry pancake mix.
The recall was issued by Krusteaz because the mix may contain trace amounts of E. coli O121. The contamination stemmed not from the flour in the pancake mix but from the blueberry nuggets, which Continental Mills said is made with a small amount of flour. The nugget supplier informed Continental that the flour used had been recalled by General Mills. It was unclear whether the nugget supplier had procured the flour it used from General Mills or a General Mills distributor or whether it had purchased recalled family flour from a retailer.
In late May, General Mills recalled about 10 million lbs of family flour after an E. coli outbreak sickened 38 people in 20 states between Dec. 21, 2015, and May 3, 2016. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that approximately half of the individuals who said they became sick reported making homemade food with flour before becoming ill, including several who said they used a General Mills brand of flour. On July 1, the recall of family flour by General Mills expanded to include product milled as far back as last fall.
General Mills said that since the recall, traces of E. coli O121 have been positively identified in flour samples.
The affected Continental Mills product was made between April and June of 2016. Only blueberry pancake mix was affected by the Krusteaz recall.
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| Andy Heily, president of Continental Mills |
“The quality and safety of our products is of the utmost importance and we are doing everything possible to ensure our customers have all of the pertinent information,” said Andy Heily, president of Continental Mills.
The company said it was working with retail customers and the Food and Drug Administration to ensure any affected product is removed from the marketplace immediately.
