And to answer your question more directly, the flour itself causes the damage. The vulnerability is only damaging if a malicious actor takes advantage of it.
Food safety practices only became standardized after regulation was enacted.
> pre-approved and comparatively trivial recipes
That sounds like most software development.
I think you are unwittingly making the case that software development is a lot like food production. Software development is only beginning to get regulated because it is only now reaching the level where it is hazardous to public safety, unlike food production which reached that a long time ago.
Because you actually can standardize them. Software isn't so simple.
"> pre-approved and comparatively trivial recipes
That sounds like most software development."
Lol no that does not. Why wouldn't high school graduates or drop outs work in software instead of at fast food? The number of languages, frameworks, patterns, etc are much more complex than basic sanitation and time/temp/acidity.
It isn't simple due to choice, not due to the nature of software. Software is relatively simple compared to other meat-space engineering disciplines. Software engineering is an relatively immature engineering discipline, but it is implicated in enough safety critical systems these days that it is about time to start maturing.
It will be painful but I welcome more software regulatory standards, because it is necessary for our trade to mature.
For example, one might require some software to undergo various degrees of planning, testing, analysis, support, documentation, etc.
Right now, the amount of planning, testing, analysis, support, and documentation required by law is generally zero. This might be fine for someone's hobby project, but it is not okay for software that human lives depend on.
How does someone know that a particular application is something lives depend on? Either your lawyer, insurance company, or regulator explicitly tells you.