10 million pounds of Wisynco's General Mills Gold Medal Flour replaceable by Cassava flour

“Consumers who have any of these products with the codes listed, are being asked not to consume the product(s) and to return them to the point of purchase for a full cash refund and we are asking all persons to cooperate and help us to clear their cupboards and pantries of the products cited,”

Wisynco trade marketing manager Karen Rosen commenting on the General Mills Gold Medal flour recall

Remember the recent recall of Flour by Wisynco back in June 2016?

I found this incident quite surprising as I had no idea that Wisynco sold flour for General Mills as noted in the article “Wisynco issues recall of selected General Mills flour”, published Thursday, June 02, 2016, The Jamaica Observer.

The recall, which focused on Gold Medal flour, was due to some 10 million pounds becoming contaminated with E. coli back on Tuesday May 31^st 2016 but had been shipped to Jamaica back in December 2015.

Specifically, the Gold Medal flour products being recalled are as follows:

1.      GML10720 Gold Medal All Purpose Flour .9kg EXPIRY CODE 27MAY7KC

2.      GML10730 Gold Medal Self Rising Flour .9kg EXPIRY CODE 23AUG6KC

3.      GML12610 Gold Medal All Purpose Flour 2.3kg EXPIRY CODE 29MAY7KC

Albeit no one got sick and the recall was done just in case anyone got sick, what caught my eye was the fact that this recall was issued in The Jamaica Observer and a passing mention in the article “Recall Issued For Gold Medal Flour Products”, published Thursday June 2, 2016, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Interestingly, by July 14^th 2016, the recall has been extended to Betty Crocker cake mixes as note in the article “Wisynco issues second product recall”, published Thursday, July 14, 2016, The Jamaica Observer. 

For all we know, some of the Gold Medal flour  and Betty Crocker cake mixes that was potentially contaminated may have been disposed off to unscrupulous vendors downtown to resell packed out in the usual polystyrene plastic bags.

But what if Jamaica could make its own flour?

How to make E. Coli contaminated Flour Safe to Eat - Making our own flour to replace imported flour

The flour recall means that the contaminated flour, all 10 million pounds of it, would have to be destroyed. However, despite this fact, it can be used safely if you know a little food chemistry.

If the flour was irradiated using a radioactive source as described in my MICO Wars blog article entitled “What is Radioactivity, Half-Life and Radioisotopes”, it could kill any E. Coli bacteria present.

After that, the flour could be safe for consumption. Alternatively, if you have a microwave, you can irradiate 1 lb of flour in a microwave resistant glass bowl for at least 5 minutes to kill any E. Coli bacteria present in the flour, once properly sifted out.

Despite the fact that the flour is contaminated, this is really an example of food waste, as unlike contaminated with Salmonella that SERHA had warned the public about back in September 2015 as documented in my blog article entitled “SERHA warns of Salmonella laced Eggs - Why Salmonella Poisoning on the Rise as Egg and Meat Shortage loom”, flour can be made safe to eat again.

Even better if we were to make our own flour, as we have lots of starch-rich foods, such as Cassava, which is already being used to replace hops in Beer as noted in my blog article entitled “US$10 million Red Stripe’s Project Grow helps 2,400 Cassava Farmers for Beer for African Exports”,  we could easily displace imported flour.

This flour recall is a bit overblown, based on my sifting of the news, as too many ways exist to make the flour safe to eat and avoid wasting food. However, it also points to a need for a local alternative to an imported product and the fact that Jamaican manufacturing can potentially fill that gap.