Can you eat flour mixed with water
In this brief guide, we will address the query, “can you eat flour mixed with water?” We will also discuss what are the dos and don’ts when handling flour, and some other recommendations to make your flour consumption healthier.
Can you eat flour mixed with water?
Yes, you can eat flour mixed with water. However, it is not recommended to do it because flour is raw food. Grains of flour (wheat) are grown outdoors, which makes them more prone to developing some harmful bacteria like Salmonella or Escherichia coli.
Eating uncooked flour can cause food poisoning, which is known for its annoying symptoms. It will always be best, when preparing any dish with flour, to cook it properly and avoid eating or tasting raw flour, or dough.
Is flour a raw food?
Yes, flour is considered a raw material because of its obtaining methods. Normally, flour is obtained after grinding whole wheat kernels which are composed of brain, and endosperm components.
Flour is grouped as a raw agricultural product. Wheat can be contaminated by different factors, such as:
- Soil contamination.
- Animal feces contamination.
- Insects.
- Diseased plants.
- Some other factors during the producing process, harvesting, storage or transportation can also cause flour contamination.
Even though flour does not exhibit high water content, some bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli can survive after the whole processing, and when you consume uncooked flour, it is most likely you get an infection caused by these bacteria.
What happens if you eat raw flour?
It is pretty common that when baking you want to try your dough, but this can lead to some serious consequences. If you consume unbaked dough or batter, you can get food poisoning.
As flour is a raw material, you need to keep in mind that it has not been treated to kill microbes that cause food poisoning. Flour can be easily contaminated with E. coli or Salmonella, so you need to always attend to proper handling of flour by the FDA.
How can you avoid this? Well, pretty simple: do NOT consume raw dough or batter, wait until your mixing with flour is fully cooked, trust me, no taste is worth a serious and annoying bacterial infection.
What is Salmonella and Escherichia coli?
Both of these bacteria can be responsible for food poisoning. They can be present in different foods, such as:
| Bacteria | Foods containing this bacteria |
| Salmonella | Salmonella is usually found in: Chicken Turkey Beef Pork Eggs Unwashed fruits Some ultra-processed foods can also exhibit this bacteria, such as: Chicken nuggets Nut butter. Frozen pot pies. Stuffed chicken entrees. |
| Escherichia coli | E. coli can contaminate several types of foods and beverages, such as: Raw meat products Raw milk Undercooked cheeses Contaminated vegetables Sprouts |
What are the symptoms of Salmonella and E. coli infection?
If you were infected with E. coli the symptoms may be noticeable within a few days after consuming contaminated foods, they can develop until nine days after! Some symptoms related to E. coli infection are:
- Severe cramping
- Diarrhea, depending on the type of E. Coli, may even exhibit bloody diarrhea.
- Fever
- Vomiting
- Nausea
Salmonella may not take that long to exhibit its related symptoms, as about six hours to six days after the infection you may notice some symptoms, such as:
- Diarrhea
- Cramping
- Fever
- Nausea
- Chills
- Headache
- Blood in feces
If you want to avoid these symptoms, trust me you do, all you need to do is to properly cook and handle foods that may have been contaminated with these bacteria, as they were mentioned above.
What is the proper handling of flour?
According to the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), you need to follow certain procedures to guarantee a safe flour consumption, these are:
- Attend the instructions labeled in the package, and follow the recommended temperatures and preparation times.
- As flour is a powder that can be easily spread, you need to keep it safe in a container separated from ready-to-eat foods.
- Do not let cookie and pastry dough be unrefrigerated, this can result in bacteria growth.
- Clean thoroughly the area where you will be cooking with flour and eggs.
- Also, you need to keep your hands as clean as possible and wash them thoroughly before manipulating the ingredients.
- Keep children away from raw dough products, do not allow them to eat them or taste them.
- Do not use raw flour to prepare foods that are ready to eat, for example, do not mix flour with a milkshake.
- Each time you use flour to prepare a dish, this needs to be properly cooked, otherwise, the effects on your health may be severe.
If you attend to these simple rules, you and your family will be safe whenever you consume products with flour.
Other FAQs about Flour that you may be interested in.
Is it flour or white mould on buns?
Conclusion
In this brief guide, we have addressed the query, “can you eat flour mixed with water?” We have also discussed other queries related to the subject at hand.
Hope you found this blog useful. If you have any questions, please let us know.
Citations
https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/handling-flour-safely-what-you-need-know
https://www.medicinenet.com/how_do_you_know_if_you_have_e_coli_or_salmonella/article.htm
https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/communication/no-raw-dough.html
https://fsi.colostate.edu/flour-draft/
