Raw Cookie Dough

Yet Another Sad, Unfortunate Reason Not to Eat Raw Cookie Dough

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Yeah, we’re not happy about it either.

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The holidays mean different things to everyone, but there’s a good chance you’ll be doing some baking this season. And, if cookies are on the menu, you’re probably going to be eating a spoonful or two of raw cookie dough. Sure, you know you’re not supposed to eat it thanks to the salmonella risks from raw eggs, but let’s get real: You’re still gonna do it, it’s gonna be delicious, and you’ll feel like a total rebel in the process.

But, sadly, the FDA is warning that it’s a really bad idea to eat raw cookie dough—and not just because of the eggs.

Yes, you can still get salmonella from raw eggs in cookie dough (or brownie or cake batter), but flour is also a major concern, the organization says in a new consumer update. That’s right, flour. It turns out the innocent-looking stuff can carry E. coli, which can make you sick or, in rare cases, even kill you.

The FDA specifically points to an outbreak of illnesses last year in which dozens of people across the country became sick from a form of E. coli called Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O121 that was found in General Mills flour. During the outbreak, 17 people were hospitalized due to the foodborne illness and one person developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a condition that can cause anemia, kidney failure, and a low blood platelet count. In response to the outbreak, General Mills voluntarily recalled 10 million pounds of flour (sold under the brand names Gold Medal Flour, Signature Kitchens Flour, and Gold Medal Wondra), the FDA says.

But the FDA warns that it’s possible that some contaminated flour is still out there—and that it’s possible for another outbreak to happen.

Of course, you have to be especially careful about food safety when you’re handling raw meat and eggs, but flour?

“We put this [update] out because people don’t think about flour,” FDA spokesman Peter Cassell tells SELF. “We know more people are baking than usual around the holidays and we want to make sure they’re taking the right precautions.”

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Food safety experts say this was the right move. “People don’t think about flour in terms of being a vehicle for which pathogens can exist, and there are people that don’t believe that you can get sick and die from this—but you can,” food safety expert Darin Detwiler, director of the Regulatory Affairs of Food and Food Industries program at Northeastern University, tells SELF. And Benjamin Chapman, Ph.D., an assistant professor and food safety extension specialist at North Carolina State University, agrees. “Raw flour is a raw product, and it doesn’t go through any heat treatment before you get it,” he tells SELF. “You should treat that flour like you’re handling raw meat.”

The good news is that high temperatures kill E. coli, so once your cookies are baked, you’re totally fine to eat them. Also, mercifully, cookie dough ice cream is OK to keep eating because that dough is heat-treated beforehand, Cassell says.

E. coli is no joke, but it’s usually not life-threatening.

“The average person can get incredibly sick and experience terrible symptoms as well,” Chapman says. For instance, you might experience nausea, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting. But healthy adults can expect to feel better within a week, according to the Mayo Clinic.

However, the risk is especially concerning for those who are pregnant or are handling flour around young children, the elderly, or people who are immunocompromised, such as those with cancer, Detwiler says. People who fit into all of these groups aren’t able to fend off an infection as well as everyone else, and that raises the odds they can become really sick or even die from contaminated flour, Detwiler says.

You don’t need to stop all of your baking operations, but you do need to be smart about them.

To get sick from E. coli–laden flour, you need to actually ingest it, Detwiler says. So if you’re planning to handle raw flour, wash your hands before and afterward. It’s also a good idea to clean your countertops well after you bake to get rid of traces of flour (and potential pathogens) that could be lurking there, Chapman says.

If you have little kids around, it’s important to know that you’re taking a risk if they handle raw flour and dough, Cassell says. If they’re under age 5 (and therefore have especially vulnerable immune systems), Detwiler says it’s probably best to just have them handle and decorate cookies after they’re baked.

Food safety experts feel your pain, but really recommend you take a hard pass on eating this stuff raw. “This is a tough one. Raw cookie dough is pretty tasty and eating it is one of the benefits of making cookies at home,” Chapman says. “But there’s not a lot you can do to make raw cookie dough safe in your home other than turn it into cookies.”

Raw Cookie Dough Ready to Bake, Not Ready to Eat.

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2009 E. Coli Outbreak Serves as a Reminder of Risks of Eating Raw Cookie Dough.

 

break and bake cookies

Raw cookie dough, whether it’s homemade or store-bought, should be destined for your oven, not your mouth.

That’s one of the CDC’s top lessons from the 2009 E. coli  O157:H7 outbreak in refrigerated Nestle Toll House cookie dough products.

During the outbreak, 77 people in 30 states became ill after eating the dough before baking it. Of these, 35 people were hospitalized. The outbreak prompted a recall of 3.6 million packages of cookie dough and some changes in the way that Nestle and other companies manufacture their cookie dough.

That was the first time an E. coli outbreak was traced to ready-to-bake commercial prepackaged cookie dough. The details of the outbreak and the steps taken to control it appear in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

How the Cookie Crumbles

The issue is much larger than one brand, says the CDC’s Karen Neil, MD, MSPH. “You shouldn’t eat raw cookie dough, regardless of who makes it,” she says.

The same goes for any product that is supposed to be cooked or baked, including cake and biscuit batter. “Raw cookie dough is not ready to eat, it is ready to bake,” Neil says.

Other cookie dough products, such as cookie dough-flavored ice cream and cookie dough bites, are likely treated in a way that makes them safe to eat, Neil says.

As part of their investigation into the 2009 E. coli outbreak, researchers searched for the source of the contamination but were unable to pinpoint the culprit.

“We do think that one of the more likely ways is through a contaminated ingredient,” Neil says. “We suspect flour, because flour doesn’t go through specific processes to kill pathogens.”

That has changed at Nestle and some other companies.

The days, weeks, and months after the outbreak were “very intense,” says Nestle spokeswoman Roz O’Hearn. “We worked very closely with the CDC and FDA. We made a responsive decision to switch to heat-treated flour in January 2010, and continue it use it.” Several other cookie dough makers have told the FDA that they have also switched to heat-treated flour.

In the past, raw eggs have caused many salmonella outbreaks linked to cookie dough. But in the 2009 cookie outbreak, the culprit “wasn’t salmonella, it was E. coli,” Neil says. Previous E. coli-related food-borne illnesses have been linked to ground beef, leafy green vegetables, sprouts, melons, salami, and unpasteurized apple cider.

Symptoms of E.coli  O157:H7 infection include:

  • Bloody diarrhea
  • Stomach cramps
  • Nausea and vomiting

Most people recover within a week. Severe complications are more likely in young children and older adults.

“As tempting as it is to sample cookie dough, do not veer from the recommendations on the package,” says David Hirschwerk, MD, an infectious disease doctor at North Shore University Long Island Jewish Hospital in Manhasset, N.Y. “If the package says you should cook it, then you should cook it.”

source:webMD