If you like to have your cake and eat the batter too, put the spoon away, at least temporarily.
In late July, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning not to eat raw cake batter after a multistate E. coli outbreak sickened more than a dozen people. Those who were infected had consumed raw cake batter from a variety of cake mixes, so the warning currently applies to all cake batter, not one specific brand.
As of July 27, 16 people from 12 states had been infected with the same strain of E. coli; their illnesses started between February 26 and June 21. (The specific strain of bacteria they were infected with is E. coli O121.) The people range in age from 2 to 73, according to the CDC, and all are female. At least seven of the infected people have been hospitalized, and one developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a rare type of kidney failure. Among those whom public health officials have interviewed so far, 75 percent (6 of 8 people thus far) said they consumed raw cake batter from a store-bought mix in the week prior to getting sick.
No deaths have been reported, the agency notes. The true number of people infected by the outbreak is probably “much higher” than the number reported to date, according to the CDC, because most people with E. coli recover at home and don’t seek medical care or get tested.
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Tips for Preventing E. coli if You Bake at Home
Home bakers should heed the warning and not consume raw cake batter or raw flour products, regardless of what brand they have in their cabinets, says Mary Yavelak, an extension associate who specializes in food safety education and outreach at North Carolina State University’s NC Cooperative Extension in Raleigh.
“Flour is made from grain that’s grown outdoors, and that makes it susceptible to pathogens — organisms that could make people sick — like the E. coli O121 in this outbreak,” she says.
Because flour is intended to be baked or cooked before it’s consumed, it typically doesn’t undergo heat treatment, which would kill any harmful bacteria, before it arrives on grocery-store shelves. “Cooking will take care of these pathogens,” which puts the onus on the consumer to handle the products appropriately and not eat them raw, Yavelak says. (She adds that some flour products have indeed been heat-treated — and would be labeled as such — which means they would be safe to consume without cooking or baking. Always check for this before tasting a raw product.)
There are many types of E. coli, and not all cause illness, Yavelak says. Those who do get sick will commonly experience severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. Most people will get better within five to seven days, according to the CDC, but some people will develop severe or life-threatening infections.
Yavelak says that, given the potential severity of E. coli infections, it’s “very important to follow recommendations to not consume these products raw, unless the flour has been heat-treated.” And in general, if using flour products makes you nervous, consider substitutes such as blended up rolled oats, which you can use in most recipes, she suggests.
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