After several instances of finishing cleaning a bowl used to mix cookie dough in or a beater used to mix cake batter only to have my husband complain that I didn’t offer to share the batter or dough first, I’ve learned my lesson.
“Would you like some Salmonella, dear?” I call to him from the kitchen.
If he delays too long and I really need to get my dishes done, I’ll remind him that “Your Salmonella‘s growing, beloved!”
I don’t share in the batter eating.
Not generally, anyway.
But I made some Mini Deep Dish Fruit Pizzas for a Super Bowl party we were going to–and got my hands into the cookie dough while I was mixing it.
Once it was mixed, I licked some of the scraps off my hands before washing them–and then offered my husband the rest of the Salmonella.
A day later, he was complaining of loose, frequent stools.
A couple hours after that, I had the same problem.
It would be. The one time I choose NOT to pass on the Salmonella, it actually contains Salmonella.
Yep, there really is good reason to avoid undercooked eggs (like I tell my pregnant women regularly). If you really can’t resist, pay the extra pennies to buy pasteurized eggs (you can identify them by the red “P” in a circle stamped on the egg shell).
Have some Salmonella?
No, thank you.
Oh my! I do have a question for you though… I eat raw eggs (in smoothies or in cookie dough) and haven’t had trouble, but they come from our own chickens, so of course they’re fresh. I’m assuming you can’t “officially” say that what I’m doing is OK, but would you do it if you were me and had your own chickens? :)
Good question! I tend to be squeamish about raw eggs apart from rational calculations, so I doubt I’d do raw eggs in smoothies ever. On the other hand, the overall risk of becoming ill from Salmonella on eggs is relatively low. If a chicken contains Salmonella in its gut (a very common occurrence in factory raised chickens, but likely less so in home raised chickens), the egg (which travels through the digestive tract of the chicken) can easily acquire the bacteria. If the egg is gathered quickly and cooled to 40 degrees or below, any Salmonella present will be unable to multiply-and will therefore be unlikely to cause illness. On the other hand, if the egg is stored at room temperature then mixed with other ingredients (such as sugar and flour in cookie dough) which generally provide food for bacterial growth, the risk of illness is much higher. The risk of illness is also increased for the immunocompromised: young children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with autoimmune disorders.
So… to answer a straightforward question with a really complex answer… As long I was not pregnant, I would feel comfortable eating cold cookie dough made from raw eggs (that I collected and cooled promptly) from my own chickens. I would be significantly less comfortable eating cookie dough that’s been sitting out at room temperature for a while.
As far as recommendations go, I encourage pregnant women to err on the side of caution since infections are more likely in pregnancy and because infections in pregnancy can cause complications (such as premature labor) beyond the usual diarrhea. For most healthy, non-pregnant women a little Salmonella cam create uncomfortable diarrhea but rarely causes anything more serious.