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