Gold Medal flour was recalled in 2019 after possible E. coli contamination.
General Mills recalled selected lots of Gold Medal unbleached and all-purpose flour after an investigation into illnesses caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli. The company expanded the recall to include flour produced at its Kansas City, Missouri, facility during a specified period.
Raw flour can carry harmful bacteria because grain is an agricultural product and is not normally treated to eliminate all pathogens before sale. Baking, frying, or cooking dough thoroughly is needed to destroy E. coli. Eating raw dough or batter is therefore a recognized food-safety risk.
The recall is sometimes misremembered as a recall of baked bread. It concerned flour as an ingredient, meaning consumers could have used it in homemade dough, cookies, cakes, or other recipes. Gold Medal is a General Mills brand, not a separate flour manufacturer.