under ME business and intellectual property law can i use other brand items as ingredients in my product

Yes, of course. The items are for sale and once you buy them they are yours. In your recipe, you can just list the generic names for the items -salt, flour, etc. You do not have to name the brands unless you want to (which I don't personally recommend). Just keep the ingredients list generic and you avoid any possible confusion that the product is endorsed by, produced by or distributed thorugh Gold Medal or Morton's etc. What I do suggest is that you trademark the name of your product and business and copyright any written material you are producing as well. Good Luck!