Can You Eat Raw Cookie Dough?

Explanation

Raw eggs in traditional cookie dough pose a Salmonella risk. While the risk per egg is relatively low (estimated at 1 in 20,000), Salmonella can cause serious illness, especially in children, elderly people, pregnant women, and those with weakened immune systems. The same Salmonella concern applies to eating raw bacon, which also requires cooking.

Raw flour is a less-known risk that many people overlook. Flour is a raw agricultural product that can contain harmful bacteria from the field, including E. coli. Unlike many foods, flour is not treated to kill pathogens before sale. Cooking or baking kills these bacteria. In contrast, raw broccoli is perfectly safe to eat since vegetables do not carry the same pathogen risks as grain products.

Safe alternatives exist for cookie dough cravings. Commercial edible cookie dough uses pasteurized eggs or no eggs, and heat-treated flour. At home, you can make edible dough by heating flour in the microwave or oven to 165°F and using pasteurized eggs or omitting eggs entirely.

The flour risk became widely recognized after a major 2016 E. coli outbreak linked to General Mills flour that sickened 63 people across 24 states. The CDC confirmed that raw flour was the source, leading to a recall of 10 million pounds of flour. Since then, the FDA has issued multiple warnings that raw flour should be treated with the same caution as raw meat. Between 2016 and 2023, there were at least four additional flour-related recalls in the United States.

To heat-treat flour at home, spread it on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F for 5 minutes, or microwave it in 30-second intervals until it reaches 165°F throughout (check with an instant-read thermometer). Let it cool completely before using. The texture changes slightly—it becomes a bit drier—but in cookie dough with butter and sugar, the difference is unnoticeable. Pasteurized eggs in the carton (such as Davidson's or Safest Choice) eliminate the Salmonella risk while behaving identically to regular eggs in recipes.

Things to Know

• Tasting a small amount of traditional raw dough is common but still carries some risk. Understanding food expiration dates can help you determine whether stored dough ingredients are still good.
• Even doughs without eggs still contain raw flour and have some bacterial risk.
• Food poisoning outbreaks have been linked to raw flour, prompting recalls.
• Children are at higher risk from raw dough pathogens because their immune systems are less developed—the CDC specifically warns against letting children taste or play with raw dough.