MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills, Inc. has issued a voluntary recall for its 5-lb bags of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour after Salmonella was detected during the sampling of the product.

The recall only affects 5-lb bags of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour with a “better if used by date” of April 20, 2020. No other types of Gold Medal flour are affected by the recall, General Mills said.

“Food safety is our top priority, and though we have not had any confirmed illnesses, we are voluntarily recalling this specific lot of Gold Medal Unbleached Flour to prevent potential illnesses,” said Jim Murphy, president of General Mills Meals and Baking Division. “This recall does not involve any other flour products, and we are continuing to educate consumers that flour is not a ‘ready-to-eat’ ingredient. Anything you make with flour must be cooked or baked before eating.”

General Mills is asking consumers to check their pantries and dispose of the affected product by this recall.

News of the recall comes less than three years after the Minneapolis-based company was involved in a major recall that centered around its Gold Medal Flour and Gold Medal Wondra. Epidemiologic, laboratory and traceback evidence indicated that flour produced at a General Mills facility in Kansas City was the likely source of an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said infected 63 people in 24 states. A total of 17 people were hospitalized, and 1 person developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure, but no deaths were reported. The recall in 2016 affected 45 million lbs of flour.