Anyone who bakes cookies knows, there’s nothing quite like eating a bit of raw cookie dough from the spoon. However, it may be that raw cookie dough isn’t the healthiest thing to eat.
The Dangers of Raw Cookie Dough
The FDA recently released a warning against the consumption of raw cookie dough. There are a number of ingredients within raw cookie dough that are not safe to eat, including raw eggs and raw dough, both of which carry food poisoning dangers.
In fact, any type of raw dough, from tortilla dough to bread dough, is dangerous to eat. It’s not even safe to play with raw dough or batter containing flour. Kids that play with raw dough – even if they do not eat it – could get germs onto their hands. If they don’t wash their hands immediately afterwards and put their hands into their mouths, they could develop an infection.
The Reason Why Raw Cookie Dough Could Cause Food Poisoning
Flour is derived from grains that come directly from the field. These grains are not usually treated to kill bacteria. Because of this, animal waste could contaminate the grains with bacteria before they are harvested and turned into flour. This bacteria can be killed by baking, frying, roasting, boiling, or even microwaving the flour, but raw dough can still contain germs.
Infections Caused by Raw Dough Poisoning
An investigation into infections caused by raw dough ingestion was recently launched by U.S. health officials. A strain of bacteria known as Shiga toxin-producing E.coli has infected dozens of people throughout the country. Symptoms of the Shiga toxin-producing E.coli infection can include abdominal cramps as well as diarrhea.
The infection typically only lasts a week, but more severe cases can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrom, which is a type of kidney failure and is more common in children that are under five, adults with weak immune systems, and older people.
Avoid eating raw cookie dough as it can result in food poisoning. For more health safety advice, be sure to visit us at The Benefits Store.
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