If you’re like me, then you have grown up eating raw cookie dough either oblivious to the health risk or thought the enjoyment outweighed the risk. Recently in December of 2018, the CDC published a feature on the health risks of eating raw cookie dough that could contain E. coli and Salmonella. Urging people to avoid the temptation of eating raw cookie dough, the CDC describes how flour is a raw agricultural product not treated to kill E. coli and raw eggs could possibly contain Salmonella. In 2016, there was a recall for flour that contained E. coli and made people sick in 24 states. E. coli infections vary but commonly include severe cramping, bloody diarrhea, and vomiting. Some with a certain E. coli infection developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) that caused kidney failure. Salmonella infections often include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps but often recover without antibiotics.
On the other hand, other public health experts think that eating raw cookie dough isn’t a bad thing. Brian Zikmund-Fisher, associate professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan, says in The Conversation that his family eats cookie dough “regularly.” Zikmund-Fisher describes that when his family makes cookie dough, they use pastuerized eggs that kill any harmful bacteria without actually having to cook the egg itself. As far as the potential contamination of flour, Zikmund-Fisher describes that this is a rare occurrence but that in the case of it, the FDA recalls the flour and he makes sure that his flour is not on the list of recalls. As a public health official, Zikmund-Fisher highly values the importance of communicating health risks to the public but he also believes that it is a choice of whether or not to take the risk and that a FDA official cannot make that choice for you.
Reading Zikmund-Fisher’s article, I believe he makes a good point; “We can’t pretend that we live our lives without risk. I put myself and my children at risk every time we get into our car. Every time we eat sushi or rare hamburgers. Every time one of us takes medications. Every time we ride a bike or play soccer.” I have eaten raw cookie dough and brownie batter for my entire life and while I realize it is a risk, I enjoy it. Just as Zikmund-Fisher said, we are always at risk in this world and sometimes it’s about weighing the benefits over the risks. It’s about maximizing life and not minimizing all risks. So thank you CDC, but I think I’ll keep eating cookie dough.
Vaccine Culture 