By Faith Peppers
University of
Georgia
Most Americans now know better than to eat raw eggs. If you eat
raw cookie dough or lick beaters slathered with cake batter,
it’s the same as slurping down a raw egg. Don’t do it,
University of Georgia food safety experts warn.
“Several years ago, my son begged me to buy a roll of chocolate
chip cookie dough he could eat as a snack,” said Martha
Partridge, a UGA Cooperative Extension agent in Lincoln
County. “My instincts told me not to take a chance. If the
package says to ‘cook before eating,’ you shouldn’t stray from
the directions.”
Recall, reminder
A recent recall of a national gourmet ice cream store’s cake
batter ice cream should serve as a reminder. During an
investigation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed
that the sweet cream base of the ice cream was pasteurized but
the dry cake mix that was added to the base was labeled a
baking mix by the manufacturer.
“The dry cake mix was labeled to indicate that it should be
baked before using,” said Elizabeth Andress, an extension food
safety expert for the UGA College of Family and Consumer
Sciences.
Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Ohio,
Michigan and California all had confirmed cases of Salmonella
typhimurium illnesses from the ice cream. A case in Illinois
was confirmed but is counted in Virginia, since that’s where
the person ate the ice cream.
No other flavors of ice cream have been associated with illness
to date.
Read the label
The cake batter ice cream was prepared in the ice cream shop.
The preparation involved adding a dry cake mix to a pasteurized
sweet cream base, and the combination did not undergo further
processing before freezing.
“FDA wants to increase awareness that Salmonella is known to
occasionally be present in flour and other ingredients that may
be listed on the dry cake mix label,” Andress said. “The
bacteria may also be in other nonanimal foods such as barley,
cereal powders and yeast.”
“Dry cake mix is a product designed to be rehydrated and then
cooked,” Partridge added. “It should not be considered a ready-
to-eat food because it hasn’t been processed to ensure that
pathogens have been destroyed or reduced in numbers to an
acceptable level.”
Follow directions
Ready-to-eat foods are typically processed to ensure that
they’re safe to eat without further cooking. Similar products,
such as cookie dough ice creams and cake mix milk shakes, could
also pose a serious food safety risk if they’re prepared with
ingredients that are intended to be cooked, the FDA ruling
said.
“The FDA is informing the retail and food service industries
that incorporating an ingredient that’s intended to be cooked
into a ready-to-eat food that will not be cooked or otherwise
treated to eliminate microorganisms of public health concern
can pose a serious food safety risk,” Partridge said.
A report on the recall says that the FDA is also asking food
service operations to review their menus for these types of
products. They should either work with their suppliers to
ensure that all ingredients are intended to be ready-to-eat or
to process their final products.
“While you’re considering whether your recipes call for dry
mixes to be added to an uncooked product, remember to think
about other hazardous ingredients, also,” Andress said.
“Remember that temptation to lick the cookie or cake batter
beaters?” she asked. “Raw, unpasteurized eggs are another
source of Salmonella bacteria. Unless you use pasteurized eggs,
resist that temptation. Wait until the cookies or cakes have
been baked to indulge, or you risk getting sick.”
Cook completely
This also means your scrambled, fried or boiled eggs should
also be cooked completely.
“If you choose to eat over-easy or runny eggs, you’re taking a
risk on getting salmonellosis,” Andress said. “Restaurants in
Georgia are required to warn customers that eating certain
undercooked or raw foods, including eggs, poses a health
risk.”
When you’re cooking in your kitchen, take routine precautionary
measures, too, to prevent cross-contamination from raw products
and surfaces that haven’t been adequately cleaned and
sanitized.
“So, if you are wondering if it’s safe to let your kids lick
the bowl,” Partridge asked, “the answer is: Who wants to take a
chance?”
If you have further questions, contact the Retail Food
Protection Program, Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, at 301-436-2440
or 301-436-2438.
