The FDA is informing the retail and food service industries that incorporating an ingredient that is intended to be cooked into a ready-to-eat food that will not be cooked or otherwise treated to eliminate microorganisms of public health concern can pose a serious food safety risk. A recent multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium has been associated with consumption of "cake batter" ice cream.
FDA wants to alert the industry that Salmonella is known to occasionally be present in flour and other non-animal foods such as barley, cereal powder, and yeast. For these reasons, FDA is asking food service operations to review their menus for these types of products and to either work with their suppliers to ensure all ingredients are intended to be ready-to-eat or to process their final products to eliminate microorganisms of public health concern. Also, routine precautionary measures should also be taken to prevent cross-contamination from raw products and surfaces that have not been adequately cleaned and sanitized.