Is toll house cookie dough safe to eat

Q: Is cookie dough from the store safe to eat?

The bottom line: Its unsafe to consume raw doughs and batters that contain eggs since the raw egg could be contaminated with Salmonella.

Toll House is taking the “cook” out of cookie.

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Is Nestle Toll House cookie dough edible?
Is cookie dough from the store safe to eat?
Is Nestle Toll House cookie dough pasteurized?
What happens if you bake Toll House edible cookie dough?

Raw cookie dough has always been a popular snack food, but it hasn’t always been safe. Health officials warn that it can cause sickness and infections, such as salmonella. While that hasn’t stopped a lot of people from risking it over the years, several companies have introduced safe-to-eat raw cookie dough over the last few years.

Nestle Toll House just entered the uncooked-cookie market with their own brand of raw cookie dough. In a complex series of events, Toll House’s Twitter account tweeted a link to an article from Cosmopolitan, which referenced an Instagram post from a food blog that had discovered the new item. Toll House simply confirmed its existence with a simple caption: “Surprise!”

The original Instagram post was created by Familyfooddude, who claims to have found the 15 oz. containers at a Publix Super Market in Florida. The post shows two different flavors, chocolate chip and peanut butter chocolate chip monster.

The surprise announcement was met with both excitement and surprise from fans. Several people simply seemed shocked that raw cookie dough wasn’t already considered safe to eat. One user posted, “Wait, so you’re telling me real cookie dough was never safe to eat?” Another user asked, “hasn’t it always been?”

This last December, the CDC once again reminded people not to eat raw cookie dough. According to them, ingredients in the dough, including eggs and flour, can contain bacteria and salmonella.

Whatever scientist or chef figured out how to make raw cookie dough safe to eat deserves every cooking award in existence.

“Made with the same ingredients you use in your mixing bowl at home, but it’s safe to eat right from the tub,” says Nestlé Toll House Funfetti Edible Cookie Dough with Candy Sprinkles. “Go ahead, dig in!” Oh boy. We’ve always wanted to rip into a tub of white flour, sugar, water, butter, and dyed candy sprinkles that are made largely of sugar, corn starch, palm oil, and palm kernel oil.

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Finally, we have the official green light to enjoy raw cookie dough by the spoonful. Never mind Buddy’s plan to recklessly scoop spoonfuls of raw Toll House cookie dough with his dad in Elf; this is government-sanctioned, parent-approved, safe chocolate chip cookie dough.

Nestlé’s Toll House is launching an egg free (not vegan, sorry folks) version of its beloved cookie dough. The edible cookie dough is available in two flavors: classic Chocolate Chip for the casual nibbler and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Monster for the committed gourmand, which packs peanut butter oats and “candy coated chocolate” (generic speak for M&M’s).

These new pints are available for purchase at your local Walmart, Publix, Meijer, and regional grocery chains for the sinfully low price of $5.49 a pint.

We may be living in the age of the cookie dough revolution. Earlier this year, we got our favorite part of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough pint in a bag, and there is no lack of artisanal cookie dough shops that sell safe-to-eat versions by the scoop. But many cookie dough fans still look at the forbidden fruit of the snack world with longing eyes, as these safer or better-for-you alternatives are just not quite like the real deal. Maybe it’s the risk of salmonella or food poisoning that makes scooping up cookie dough such a treat.

But the tables have turned: Nestlé does not recommend you bake this cookie dough. Because at the end of the day, eggs are only there to make for a chewy cookie that doesn’t fall apart upon contact. Now you have a new reason to defy the CDC’s advice to “Say No To Raw Dough.” Only this time, it’s risk-free.

If there was a real-life forbidden fruit, cookie dough would be it. We have been told time and time again to not eat it, yet we still find ourselves sneaking a bite here and there while making cookies, or even buying a tub of Nestle Toll House dough at the store and eating it by yourself (guilty).

For years, our mothers have told us that raw cookie dough could make you sick, but it’s pretty rare these days to hear about someone getting sick or even dying from raw cookie dough. So we set out to discover if cookie dough is really that bad for you.

Photo by Malia Budd

The most commonly cited reason to not eat raw cookie dough is the risk of salmonella from raw eggs. However, according to Dr. Adrienne Kassis, a primary care provider at One Medical group, only about 1 in every 20,000 eggs is contaminated, and that number decreases every year. Furthermore, if an egg is pasteurized, as they are in Nestle Toll House dough, the chance of getting salmonella decreases even more.

Depending on who you talk to, some health care professionals even say that eating raw eggs is actually good for your health, as cooking causes a minor loss in nutrients. They mention the risk of contracting salmonella, but explain that the chances are low and the benefits outweigh the risks.

Photo by Malia Budd

But what happens when cookie dough actually is detrimental to your health? In 2009, a woman by the name of Linda Rivera died from E. Coli, a bacteria similar to salmonella. E. Coli can occur in a variety of foods, including the Nestle Toll House cookie dough that Rivera ate. Although she did not die immediately, doctors believe that the cause of her health problems and eventual death were due to the bacteria that was found in the cookie dough that she ate.

Similarly, in the United States, approximately 42,000 cases of salmonella are reported each year, causing 400 deaths, however, not all of these cases involve raw eggs. Although there are no specific numbers, researchers believe that the number of cases involving raw eggs doesn’t even reach the thousands.

Photo by Rayna Mohrmann

If you want to be cautious about how you eat your cookie dough, it is recommended that you keep your eggs at 45°F or below at all times. Below 45°, salmonella bacteria can’t grow. Also, make your own cookie dough.

Even though we all know that homemade cookies taste better, it’s better because you know where your ingredients are coming from. When something like an e. Coli breakout happens in Nestle Toll House dough, nobody can be sure where the bacteria originated. Yes, it can come from the eggs, but it can also come from something as seemingly harmless as flour.

When we set out on our quest to discover the answer to the question of whether or not cookie dough is really that bad for you, we expected one solid answer. However, it depends on who you talk to and what their opinions are. It also depends on how badly you’re willing to risk getting sick. Fortunately, your chances of getting sick are pretty slim. So go ahead and lick the spoon, just make sure you’re aware of the risk that’s involved.

Safe and ready to eat. Go ahead, lick the spoon!

The bottom line: It's unsafe to consume raw doughs and batters that contain eggs since the raw egg could be contaminated with Salmonella.

No, raw cookie dough should never be consumed. Please follow the baking instructions on the package. Are the eggs used in NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Cookie Dough pasteurized? Yes, they are.

To ensure that the product would be safe to consume, Nestlé Toll House removed ingredients, such as eggs, that are necessary to the baking process, so baking the Edible Cookie Dough is not recommended.