Why can’t I eat raw cookie dough?

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Have you ever baked cookies with a grown-up and been tempted to eat the cookie dough before it went into the oven? Maybe you’ve even tried a little, but heard that it’s not good for you to eat it. If it tastes good, what’s the problem??

Even though some people think it’s yummy, eating uncooked batter isn’t a very idea. The raw dough of most cookies has eggs in it, and uncooked eggs can have harmful bacteria in them which can make you sick. The harmful bacteria most often found in eggs is Salmonella. Every single egg does not have Salmonella in it, and even those that do are usually okay once they’ve been properly cooked. But since you can’t know which eggs are risky and which are not, it’s better to stay away from them all. People who get sick from Salmonella usually have vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. People with Salmonella can get better in a few days but in some cases it can be very serious.

The good news is that if you resist the temptation to eat that raw batter and you always wash your hands when you’re helping to cook with eggs, you should be able to avoid having any eggy problems with Salmonella! Plus, making sure all of the dough ends up in the oven (instead of your mouth) will mean more delicious cookies to eat when they’re ready! YUM!

Ingredient Switcheroo!

If you’re really, reeeeaaaalllllllly tempted to eat raw cookie dough, ask your grown-up co-chef to help you find a recipe that doesn’t use any eggs! If all of the other ingredients in your recipe are okay, you can nibble on a little batter and see what it’s like!

Aside from cookies, there are also recipes for other things that are fun to bake and don’t involve any raw eggs. Most breads are made without eggs and there are even recipes for eggless cakes that you could try!