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Is Raw Cookie Dough Safe to Eat?

Can I eat Raw Cookie Dough or is it considered to be unsafe?


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Raw cookie dough is the ingredients mixed together prior to baking the actual cookies. Some people choose to eat it as a tester before baking while others enjoy eating it right out of the package as a snack.

Eating raw cookie dough isn’t dangerous, but there are some risks when consuming homemade dough. The difference between commercial dough and homemade dough is mostly one ingredient. Raw egg. Because raw egg cannot be preserved for long periods of time, it is not found in prepackaged cookie dough. And while eating prepackaged cookie dough can give you minor stomach pains, overall it is not dangerous.

The dangerous element of raw eggs is the potential for salmonella. This is a bacterium that causes severe abdominal illnesses. Because homemade cookie dough contains raw eggs, this is a cause for concern when ingested. Once the dough is baked and heated to a certain temperature, the bacterium is killed, leaving the delicious cookies safe to eat.

Store bought cookies on the other hand do not present this problem. Although eggs are still present as part of the ingredients, they are generally pasteurized. This means that they have been precooked just enough to be safe to eat. This is a process called “flash cooking”. As raw eggs are essential to baking, most prepackaged cookie doughs will have pasteurized eggs as an ingredient.

If you want to make homemade raw cookie dough, and eat it safely, this is still possible. Most stores carry pasteurized eggs and can be used in place of raw eggs. Used in the same way, simply add the pasteurized eggs to your wet and dry ingredients as you would raw eggs. Once everything is mixed together, you can eat it safely without the danger of ingesting bacteria.

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