When a bunch of people got sick from eating Toll House prepackaged raw cookie dough, most people probably thought the same thing: "Well, it tells you not to eat it right there on the package!" And how many of us have been scolded about the dangers from salmonella in the raw eggs.
But the funny thing is, the source of infection from that cookie dough outbreak was not salmonella in the eggs at all. It was e. coli in the flour which sickened people. In fact, most raw cookie dough manufacturers - aware of the fact that many of their customers intend to eat their dough raw - use pasteurized eggs in their cookie dough.
The risk of salmonella is also not very high today, thanks to improved egg handling procedures in the industry. Cases of salmonella poisoning from eggs have dropped considerably in the last ten years, and the rate of salmonella in eggs is estimated at only 1 in 20,000.
Considering the amount of raw cookie dough that people eat, both store-bought and handmade, you would think that you would hear more about foodborne illness from this vector if it was an issue. Make no mistake, people DO get sick from raw cookie dough. (Here's a recent Chowhound thread where people share their stories.)
The main thing that prevents it from being a bigger issue is that most cookie dough is handled properly. People tend to be very good about keeping cookie dough properly chilled, which helps prevent any existing bacteria from multiplying out of control. Cookie dough straight from the fridge could be safe, whereas if you left that same batch of dough sitting out at room temperature for a few hours, it could turn extremely hazardous.
Long story short? Eating raw cookie dough isn't the safest thing you can do, but it's far from the riskiest. Risk-wise, it's probably in line with eating a hamburger cooked medium-rare. The truth is that our overall rates of bacterial infection in food, from peanut butter to fresh spinach, is so terrible right now that frankly eating raw cookie dough isn't a big concern.
Image courtesy Flickr/slgckgc
1 comments