It was the flour, not the butler

Almost six weeks after General Mills recalled 4.5 million kg of flour in the US due to suspected E. coli contamination, officials have found the ‘smoking gun’ in the investigation, matching E. coli O121 from a sample of General Mills flour recovered from a sick person’s home to the outbreak strain that has sickened at least 38 people since December.

Food Safety News reports investigators have been looking for such evidence since late April when patient interviews revealed that raw dough made with flour was a common denominator among outbreak victims.

“On June 10, FDA whole genome sequencing on E. coli O121 isolates recovered from an open sample of General Mills flour belonging to one of the consumers who was sickened was found to be closely genetically related to the clinical isolates from human illnesses. The flour came from a lot that General Mills has recalled,” according to an update from the Food and Drug Administration.