Welcome to BrainStuff, a production of I-Heart Radio.

Hey Brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Volkalbaum, and this is another classic episode from our archives.

Baking is an excellent way to spend time at home,

but as tempting as it can be, do try to avoid eating raw dough.

I'll let former Lauren explain.

Hi, Brainsuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here. Everyone has that one friend, you know the Kill Joy who can't help but taint 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,

aka delicious un-baked 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 in 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 led to a 2016 recall of more

than 10 million pounds of flour that's about 4,500 metric tons and of 250

potentially contaminated raw flower-based products.

In 2016, a United States Food and Drug Administration investigation determined that raw dough made using General Mills flour produced on some dates between November 2015 and February 2016 was tainted.

A statement from the FDA said,

Flower has a long shelf life and bags of flour 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.

...