Baking Mix Warning

[Mr. Guy]

Hi All,
My brother-in-law sent this to me the other day and I thought you all might want to keep this in mind when your packing up for the big trip.

From Snopes:
Dear Abby: I recently made a batch of pancakes for my
healthy 14-year-old son, using a mix that was in our pantry.He said that they tasted 'funny,' but ate them anyway.
About 10 minutes later, he began having difficulty breathing
and his lips began turning purple. I gave him his allergy
pill, had him sit on the sofa and told him to relax. He was
wheezing while inhaling and exhaling.

My husband, a volunteer Firefighter and EMT, heated up some
water, and we had my son lean over the wate r so the steam
could clear his chest and sinuses. Soon, his breathing
became more regular and his lips returned to a more normal
color. We checked the date on the box of pancake mix and,
to my dismay, found it was very outdated. As a reference
librarian at an academic institution, I have the ability to
search through many research databases. I did just that,
and found an article the next day that mentioned a
19-year-old male DYING after eating pancakes made with
outdated mix. Apparently, the mold that forms in old
pa ncake mix can be toxic!


When we told our friends about my son's close call, we were
surprised at the number of people who mentioned that they
should check their own pancake mix since they don't use it
often, or they had purchased it some time ago. With so many
people shopping at warehouse-type stores and buying large
sizes of pancake mix, I hope your readers will take the time
to check the expiration date on their boxes.

Also, beware of outdated Bisquick, cake, brownie and cookie
mixes.


PASS IT ON! This is TRUE--Check it out!

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/pancake.asp


Everyone take care, Guy

[motomac]

Thanks for the post. I go through the biggest box of Bisquick at the rate of one a month. But I will start checking exp dates when I pick up the next box.

[Ironheadziggy76]

Thanks for the post Guy, the wife usually makes pancakes from scratch about every other 12 years. So if I make them it's normally from a mix, and it's not that often. I use it about once a year for fish batter also so I bet mine is expired. Now that I think about it, the wife has it in one of those clear Tupperware canisters so who knows how old it is. I better toss it to be sure.

[braindead0]

Note that the risks for this are extremely low. You must be allergic to one or more of the molds, if you read the entire article on snopes there is only ONE documented case of this ever happening. Of course that doesn't mean there aren't undocumented cases.

I wonder if simple flour could support the same things? What about other types of flour? Oh well, I'm not going to lose any sleep over this.

[Mr. Guy]

I don't think anyone should lose sleep either, but in the story, the boy said they tasted "funny" but ate them anyway. This is were the danger is to me, just pay attention, if it smells or taste funny don't risk it, toss it out.

Guy

[braindead0]

True, that should apply to anything methinks.. It might also be a good idea to pay attention to storage, keep it in an airtight container and away from moisture... a bit hard with the humidity at times... but certainly something to watch out for.

[LionLady]

I noticed that whenever my local Safeway was offering an item on sale, invariably the item was either ALREADY outdated, or soon would be. Sheesh.

P