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Health & Nutrition: Food Safety and Quality

Why shouldn't I taste a sample of cookie dough before baking it?

Foods containing raw eggs, such as homemade ice cream, cake batter, mayonnaise, and eggnog carry a Salmonella risk, but their commercial counterparts don't. Commercial products are made with pasteurized eggs; that is, eggs that have been heated sufficiently to kill bacteria, and also may contain an acidifying agent that kills the bacteria. Commercial preparations of cookie dough are not a food hazard.

If you want to sample homemade dough or batter or eat other foods with raw-egg-containing products, consider substituting pasteurized eggs for raw eggs. Pasteurized eggs are usually sold in the grocer's refrigerated dairy case.

Source: Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition