Contaminated Flour Alert Issued Across Spain
Spanish food safety authority warns consumers about toxic substance in gluten-free flour sold in supermarkets.
The Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) has issued an urgent alert regarding the presence of tropane alkaloids in a gluten-free flour product available in supermarkets across Spain.
The flour in question is 'Mix It Dunkel Rustico,' produced by Dr. Schär, which originated in Italy.
AESAN has advised consumers who have purchased the affected product to refrain from consuming it.
This alert was initiated following a notification from the European Food Alert Network (RASFF), based on information provided by health authorities in Belgium regarding contaminated batches.
The initial distribution has been reported in the autonomous communities of Aragón, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Valencia Community, Catalonia, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarra.
AESAN has not ruled out the possibility of further redistributions to additional regions.
Key product details include:
- Product Name: Mix It Dunkel Rustico
- Brand: Dr. Schär
- Lot Numbers: 141025C, 151025A, 071225B, 220126A, 130226D
- Best Before Dates: October 14, 2025, October 15, 2025, December 7, 2025, January 22, 2026, February 13, 2026
- Weight: 1 kg
- Storage: Ambient temperature.
The AESAN has communicated this information to the competent authorities in autonomous communities via the Coordinated Rapid Information Exchange System (SCIRI) to ensure the withdrawal of affected products from retail channels.
Consumers with potentially contaminated products at home are advised not to consume them.
Tropane alkaloids are plant toxins that naturally occur in certain plant species, such as Datura, which is known to produce harmful secondary metabolites.
These toxins can inadvertently contaminate crops through the presence of toxic weeds during the harvesting process.
The methods of cleaning and selection cannot remove the seeds of Datura stramonium from crops like sorghum, millet, and buckwheat, which may lead to contamination.
Symptoms associated with tropane alkaloids ingestion include dry mouth and mucous membranes, dilated pupils, blurred vision, skin redness and warmth, tachycardia, and decreased gastrointestinal motility.
In high doses, these alkaloids can be fatal.
In a separate health alert, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the continuation of an international health emergency concerning mpox (monkeypox), citing an increase in cases primarily in Africa and the potential for undetected transmissions in regions beyond the continent.
The Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed the decision to maintain the high alert status based on recommendations from a bi-monthly Emergency Committee meeting that assesses the epidemic’s situation.
The emergency status was originally declared on August 14, 2024, due to rising case numbers in areas such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are difficult to access for health services due to ongoing regional conflicts.
This latest announcement has been attributed to rapid case proliferation of a new variant (clade Ib) different from the one responsible for previous outbreaks in 2022.
To date, over 17,000 confirmed cases of the clade Ib variant have been reported in 2023, with 72 fatalities, including more than 8,000 cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nearly 5,000 in Uganda, and approximately 2,600 in Sierra Leone.
From 2022, there have been over 142,000 confirmed cases of various mpox variants across 133 countries, resulting in 328 deaths.
The flour in question is 'Mix It Dunkel Rustico,' produced by Dr. Schär, which originated in Italy.
AESAN has advised consumers who have purchased the affected product to refrain from consuming it.
This alert was initiated following a notification from the European Food Alert Network (RASFF), based on information provided by health authorities in Belgium regarding contaminated batches.
The initial distribution has been reported in the autonomous communities of Aragón, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Valencia Community, Catalonia, Castilla y León, Extremadura, Madrid, Murcia, and Navarra.
AESAN has not ruled out the possibility of further redistributions to additional regions.
Key product details include:
- Product Name: Mix It Dunkel Rustico
- Brand: Dr. Schär
- Lot Numbers: 141025C, 151025A, 071225B, 220126A, 130226D
- Best Before Dates: October 14, 2025, October 15, 2025, December 7, 2025, January 22, 2026, February 13, 2026
- Weight: 1 kg
- Storage: Ambient temperature.
The AESAN has communicated this information to the competent authorities in autonomous communities via the Coordinated Rapid Information Exchange System (SCIRI) to ensure the withdrawal of affected products from retail channels.
Consumers with potentially contaminated products at home are advised not to consume them.
Tropane alkaloids are plant toxins that naturally occur in certain plant species, such as Datura, which is known to produce harmful secondary metabolites.
These toxins can inadvertently contaminate crops through the presence of toxic weeds during the harvesting process.
The methods of cleaning and selection cannot remove the seeds of Datura stramonium from crops like sorghum, millet, and buckwheat, which may lead to contamination.
Symptoms associated with tropane alkaloids ingestion include dry mouth and mucous membranes, dilated pupils, blurred vision, skin redness and warmth, tachycardia, and decreased gastrointestinal motility.
In high doses, these alkaloids can be fatal.
In a separate health alert, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the continuation of an international health emergency concerning mpox (monkeypox), citing an increase in cases primarily in Africa and the potential for undetected transmissions in regions beyond the continent.
The Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, confirmed the decision to maintain the high alert status based on recommendations from a bi-monthly Emergency Committee meeting that assesses the epidemic’s situation.
The emergency status was originally declared on August 14, 2024, due to rising case numbers in areas such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are difficult to access for health services due to ongoing regional conflicts.
This latest announcement has been attributed to rapid case proliferation of a new variant (clade Ib) different from the one responsible for previous outbreaks in 2022.
To date, over 17,000 confirmed cases of the clade Ib variant have been reported in 2023, with 72 fatalities, including more than 8,000 cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, nearly 5,000 in Uganda, and approximately 2,600 in Sierra Leone.
From 2022, there have been over 142,000 confirmed cases of various mpox variants across 133 countries, resulting in 328 deaths.
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