Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and this is
Speaker 1: another classic episode from our archives. Baking is an excellent
Speaker 1: way to spend time at home, but as tempting as
Speaker 1: it can be, do try to avoid eating raw dough.
Speaker 1: I'll let former Lauren explain. Hi, brain Stuff, Lauren vogel Bomb. Here.
Speaker 1: Everyone has that one friend, you know, the kill joy
Speaker 1: who can't help attaint a perfectly pleasant conversation with an unsolicited,
Speaker 1: soul crushing truth bomb. Apologies are in order. This episode
Speaker 1: is about to be the kill joy of your podcast
Speaker 1: stream today. That's because, amidst the cheer and anticipation of
Speaker 1: the holiday season, something truly disturbing has come to our attention,
Speaker 1: and it involves a wintertime staple, raw cookie dough. According
Speaker 1: to a new study published in the New England Journal
Speaker 1: of Medicine, eating raw foods made with flour a k
Speaker 1: A delicious unbaked goods like cookies, could make you dangerously sick.
Speaker 1: Well he experts have long known that a type of E.
Speaker 1: Coli bacteria commonly reside in wet environments like leafy vegetables
Speaker 1: and raw meat. The study confirms that the same type
Speaker 1: of bacteria can lurk in dry habitats like flower too.
Speaker 1: The study covers the details that led to a recall
Speaker 1: of more than ten million pounds of flour that's about
Speaker 1: four thousand, five hundred metric tons, and of two and
Speaker 1: fifty potentially contaminated raw flower based products in A United
Speaker 1: States Food and Drug Administration investigation determined that raw dough
Speaker 1: made using General Mills flour produced on some dates between
Speaker 1: November and February was tainted. A statement from the FDA
Speaker 1: said flower has a long shelf life and bags of
Speaker 1: flower may be kept in people's homes for a long time.
Speaker 1: Consumers unaware of the recall could continue to eat these
Speaker 1: recalled flowers and potentially get sick. If consumers have any
Speaker 1: of these recalled flowers in their homes, they should throw
Speaker 1: such flower products away. The studies authors say they're not
Speaker 1: trying to ruin people's holidays. They just don't want anyone
Speaker 1: to get sick, and consuming even a small amount of
Speaker 1: raw flour from these tainted batches could lead to a
Speaker 1: pretty unpleasant bout of illness. More than a quarter of
Speaker 1: the fifty six patients affected across twenty four states were hospitalized,
Speaker 1: and some of their symptoms included mild fever, abdominal pain, vomiting,
Speaker 1: and so sorry, bloody diarrhea, though all the patients raging
Speaker 1: in age from one years eventually recovered. If cautionary tales
Speaker 1: around raw cookie does sound familiar, it's probably because the
Speaker 1: consumption of raw eggs and another key ingredient has long
Speaker 1: been known to carry risks. A General Mills spokesperson encouraged
Speaker 1: consumers to continue avoiding raw batter in the future because
Speaker 1: flour can't be heat treated to prevent contamination and potential outbreaks,
Speaker 1: not without impacting its performance. The takeaway here you can
Speaker 1: still have your cookies, just spake them too. Today's episode
Speaker 1: was written by Michelle Konstantinowski and produced by Tristan Nil
Speaker 1: and Tyler flang Her. More on this lots of other
Speaker 1: chewy topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff
Speaker 1: is a production of I Heart Radio or more podcasts.
Speaker 1: My heart Radio visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.