Who doesn’t love eating raw chocolate chip cookie dough?! Stop! Consuming raw cookie dough could be hazardous to your health. It is like playing Russian roulette with Salmonella. No one wants to take time out of their busy schedule to be sick with a food borne illness.

Most raw cookie dough contains eggs. Eggs are carriers of Salmonella, a food borne pathogen. Salmonella can cause Salmonellosis, a food borne illness, says Michigan State University Extension. Salmonella is killed by cooking and pasteurization. Keep eggs refrigerated until they are needed in a recipe. This keeps them out of the temperature danger zone. The temperature danger zone is the temperatures between 40 degrees Fahrenheit and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

When making cookies, just like any other food preparation, guidelines need to be followed to produce a safe product. Number one is keeping it clean. This means washing hands before and after handling raw meat, poultry and eggs. All kitchen counter tops, cutting boards, equipment and utensils need to be washed, rinsed and sanitized. A good sanitizing solution is one teaspoon of chlorine bleach to one quart of hot water. The temperature of the water should be about 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

After cleaning the kitchen counter tops, equipment and cutting boards, it is time to assemble the ingredients for the cookies. Be sure to be exact in measuring those ingredients. Take the eggs out of the refrigerator just before they are needed. This keeps the eggs out of the temperature danger zone.

Follow the instructions on the recipe. As tempting as it is, do not taste the raw cookie dough! It is much safer to taste the baked end product.

By keeping it clean and following food safety guidelines, those baked cookies will be a delight to consume. This is much safer than eating raw cookie dough and ending up with a belly ache.