Kroger and Dorothy Lane Market have recalled 2-, 5- and 10-pound bags of Gold Medal All Purpose Flour, 13.5 ounce containers of Gold Medal Wondra Pour & Shake, and 5-pound bags of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour at its Dayton-area stores.
Some of those who were sickened may have eaten raw dough or batter, the company said. Customers can call General Mills at 1-800-446-1898 for more information.
“In general, CDC recommends that people not eat raw dough or batter intended for cooking or baking, and children not be provided raw dough to play with,” an agency statement said.
Most strains of E. coli are harmless, but E. coli O121, the one found in the 38 sick people, is a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. Seniors, children and people with compromised immune systems are most at risk.
General Mills said the pathogen had not been found in any of its flour products or in its flour manufacturing plant.
“Flour is an ingredient that comes from milling wheat, something grown outdoors that carries with it risks of bacteria, which are rendered harmless by baking, frying or boiling,” the company said. Its website has information on the flour batches affected by the recall.
In 2009, Nestlé recalled some Nestlé Toll House cookie dough after more than 70 people in 30 states became sick from E. coli 157: H7, another deadly variety. While no one ingredient was ever identified as the culprit, one hypothesis was that the E. coli in the product was passed by the flour to consumers who ate the raw dough.
The announcement Tuesday was the latest of several voluntary food recalls. In May, the CDC announced a recall of frozen vegetables that had been processed by CRF Frozen Foods but ended up in products under a variety of brand names. The foods had been linked to a listeria outbreak.
Also in May the agency announced a voluntary recall of pistachios produced by Wonderful Pistachios, a division of the Wonderful Co., after it tied the nuts to 11 cases of salmonella. It linked 26 cases of poisoning in 12 states to salmonella found in sprouts produced by several companies.
“Contamination of food is an ongoing issue,” said Sandra Eskin, who directs work on food safety at the Pew Charitable Trusts. “The good news is that we’ve got technology like whole genome sequencing that’s helping identify outbreaks more quickly than in the past.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.