Miller Magazine Issue: 112 April 2019

20 NEWS APRIL 2019 Pillsbury flour recalled over salmonella concerns The producers of Pillsbury Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, used by many home bakers, have voluntarily recalled 12,245 cases sold to retailers, after a random inspection revealed tra- ces of salmonella in one bag. The cases, each of which contains about eight five-pound bags, were mostly sold to the Publix supermarket chain and to Winn-Dixie markets, both of which have branches throughout the Southeast. The cases have best if used by dates of either April 19, 2020, or April 20, 2020. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) used this recall as an opportunity to remind consumers to “never eat raw dough when making cookies, etc.” adding that flour may contain bacte- ria that could cause disease. The F.D.A. spokesman said salmonella sickens about 1.2 million Americans a year and can cause a range of gastrointestinal problems, from diarrhea to kidney failure in rare and extreme cases. Both hand washing and cooking food can help kill the bacteria. In the summer of 2016, companies recalled more than 10 million pounds of flour, as 63 consumers fell ill from Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. That outbreak led to renewed warnings that consumers not sample raw cookie dough, or indeed any raw batter. U.S. to export wheat to Brazil without tariffs The United States and Brazil have agreed to steps aimed at lowering barriers to agricultural trade, focu- sing on wheat, pork and beef, the presidents of the two nations said in a joint statement. Brazil will allow the United States to export 750,000 tons of American wheat with no tariffs, while the two countries agreed to “science-based conditions” to allow the United States to export pork to Brazil, U.S. President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said. The United States also agreed to send inspectors to Brazil for a “technical visit” to au- dit Brazil’s beef inspection system so that Brazilian beef exports to the United States could resume, the two le- aders said. The U.S. wheat industry is celebrating the new export opportunities. At present, wheat faces a 10% duty in Brazil unless it was grown in the fellow Merco- sur countries of Argentina, Paraguay, or Uruguay. Brazil agreed in 1995 to create a tariff-rate quota but offered it rarely. “This is a big win for U.S. wheat farmers, the Trump Administration and members of Congress who have pushed for action on this issue,” Ben Scholz, pre- sident of the National Association of Wheat Growers, said in a statement. At current prices on the futures markets, 750,000 tonnes of wheat are worth $125 mil- lion. The USDA says Brazil imports more than 7 million tonnes of wheat a year. The U.S. is forecast to export 27 million tonnes of wheat during the current trade year. The U.S. has a huge wheat stockpile, forecast to equal a six-month supply when the 2019 crop is ready for harvest. Exports are an important outlet, accounting for half of annual consumption.