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Flour contaminated with E Coli - don't lick the bowl

(56 Posts)
JessM Wed 06-Dec-17 11:42:16

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42236702
This seems an unlikely food poisoning risk. E Coli is not going to breed on flour as it is dry and cool - so I guess it depends on how contaminated the grain might be. Two possible sources I reckon. Faeces in fertiliser is one, as E Coli is a bowel based bug. The other is rats. I know of a "mill" in Ireland which makes brown bread mix for soda bread. No way is it rat proof. Raw egg is now deemed safe in the UK, but should we still discourage "licking the bowl?"

rockgran Fri 08-Dec-17 13:59:56

Never been keen to lick the bowl as it is obviously "raw" - never fancied cookie-dough ice-cream for that reason either.

Fennel Fri 08-Dec-17 13:04:10

To all you Yuckers - I keep a box of Fisherman's Friend lozenges in our van - 3 packets in the box.. On Monday the open packet was nearly empty, so I blamed husband. But today one of the other packets had a tiny hole in it - Mice!
And I had eaten a few from the nearly empty packet shock!

lovebeigecardigans1955 Fri 08-Dec-17 12:07:23

I love licking the bowl out and I'm also partial to raw pastry. Fingers crossed, I'm still here.

Jalima1108 Fri 08-Dec-17 11:25:06

JessM I would think 'yuk' nowadays to raw sausage meat!
But perhaps we knew the pigs in those days (uncle's farm)

shysal Fri 08-Dec-17 09:24:03

Made a cake yesterday and yes I did scrape the bowl. It was Baggs' apple cake, delicious. I can thoroughly recommend it.
www.gransnet.com/recipes/dish/6620-Apple-Cake

Greengage Fri 08-Dec-17 00:53:14

Haven't baked a cake in an age, but a few months ago had a strong urge for the taste of uncooked sponge cake mix. Made up one egg's worth and proceeded to eat it! Completely yummy!!!! No repercussions!

Farmor15 Thu 07-Dec-17 23:41:56

Microbiologist here again! Actually raw sausage meat hasn’t got that many bacteria- they put in lots of preservatives which is why sausages keep for much longer than mince.
I used to get students to test them and often found more bacteria in salads than raw sausages.
Personally I wouldn’t eat it- prefer to lick the bowl - using spatula to scrape.

catwoman Thu 07-Dec-17 23:26:46

I still like a slice of raw sausage meat!

SueDonim Thu 07-Dec-17 23:05:45

I fed my sour dough starter tonight with more flour, then I asked Dh to admire my Kilner jar full of e-coli. grin

Bathsheba Thu 07-Dec-17 22:44:45

OMG raw sausage meat! You can get hepatitis from that.

Oh calm your knickers tchgrin. That was 60 odd years ago. I'm still here.

pollyperkins Thu 07-Dec-17 22:36:04

I think by 'licking the bowl' people mean using a spoon or other implement or running a finger round it, not literally licking it!

Legs55 Thu 07-Dec-17 20:13:15

I loved licking the bowl,with a finger or a spoon, best bit of cake making. How have we made it to our grand old age with all the "unhealthy " eating in our pasttchconfused

shirleyhick Thu 07-Dec-17 19:50:39

What is the point in making a cake if you can't lick the bowl thats the best bit

M0nica Thu 07-Dec-17 19:33:59

Peaseblossom I do not think anyone literally licks the bowl, although fingers may be run round it, most peopl, including children use spoons and spatulas.

Licking just seems impractical, you would end up with cake mix on your face and in your hair.

Jalima1108 Thu 07-Dec-17 19:09:11

who else used to eat raw sausage meat as a child?
Yes, I did, squeeze it out of the skin and eat it!

I don't lick the bowl
(physically impossible surely grin)

TerriBull Thu 07-Dec-17 17:56:54

I must be unusual I've never been tempted to lick the bowl after making a cake, I can't remember doing it as a child when my mother was baking. I just don't fancy the raw ingredients.

Peaseblossom Thu 07-Dec-17 17:52:56

I’ve never licked the bowl. UGH! Can’t see the need. I scrape it with a spoon and lick that. We did the same when we were children as did my children.

willa45 Thu 07-Dec-17 16:51:07

Reminds me of a joke......

"Mama, mama...can I lick the bowl? You're too late, I already flushed it!" grin

pollyperkins Thu 07-Dec-17 16:48:31

And all these years that I've been licking out the bowl (with a spoon!) I thought it ws a secret sin that no-one else did! DH thinks it's terrible. I'm sure it does no harm though. When I was a child I asked my mother why she cooked the cakes as they were so much more delicious when raw!
I do sometimes eat the scraps of raw pastry left over too.
However I would NEVER eat raw meat, especially pork which should always be well cook because of tape worm eggs.

JessM Thu 07-Dec-17 16:28:12

OMG raw sausage meat! You can get hepatitis from that. www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/sausages-ham-pork-hepatitis-virus-hev-supermarket-uk-tesco-public-health-england-a7903431.html

And just plain YUK!

Baggs Thu 07-Dec-17 16:13:57

Our chickens loved raw pastry.

Saggi Thu 07-Dec-17 16:06:58

Licking the bowl is a childhood absolute! I'm sure there's a ,law says you must lick the bowl.... I still do it that's if the grandkids don't beat me to it. They also eat raw dough that's been left over from any baking . Whatever next will come across the 'pond' .... no eating a dropped sweetie after invoking the 5 second rule. You've got to eat ' a pound of dirt before you die' as my grannie used to say. Should we be listening to 'folk' who voted in Trump. Says it all really!!

SueDonim Thu 07-Dec-17 15:02:36

I do, Cloverpark The trimmings off the edges!

When I lived in the tropics I kept flour in the freezer to prevent any bugs getting into it. You just use it straight from the freezer.

valeriej43 Thu 07-Dec-17 14:59:51

Glad its not just me who likes raw sausage meat, but I have never heard of anyone else who does or has eaten it
I don't bake a lot these days, but when I do I also lick the bowl, I have not seen anything about it being unhygienic or unhealthy, cant see why it would be

Fennel Thu 07-Dec-17 14:13:00

I've often had to throw out dry goods that had been infested by the pantry moth, but I don't think they would cause illness.
It seems strange that e coli should get into flour.