National Homemade Cookies Day: why to skip tasting raw dough
October 1 is National Homemade Cookies Day. The FDA warns that raw flour, as well as raw eggs, can carry E. coli and Salmonella.
Today is National Homemade Cookies Day, which National Day Calendar describes as a day for baking, sharing and enjoying fresh cookies. It is a nice excuse for an evening batch. It is also a good time to talk about the spoonful of dough a lot of people sneak from the bowl.
Most people know raw eggs can carry Salmonella. Fewer know that raw flour can be a problem too. Flour is a raw agricultural product that has not been treated to kill germs, and the FDA has warned that it can carry E. coli and Salmonella. Food Safety News lists several outbreaks tied to raw flour and dough over the years, including a 2009 cookie dough outbreak that sickened 77 people and a 2023 flour-related Salmonella outbreak that reached 11 states.
The FDA's advice is to skip raw dough and batter entirely, including homemade play dough that children might put in their mouths. Bake cookies for the time and temperature in the recipe. Wash your hands, utensils and counters after working with flour, and keep raw dough away from foods that will not be cooked.
If you love the taste of cookie dough, there are safer options. Store-bought cookie dough ice cream is made with heat-treated flour, and some packaged edible doughs are made to be eaten raw.
If you are baking with kids tonight, give them a cookie from the first tray as the taste-tester reward, so the dough bowl is less tempting.
Sources
- FDA urges caution: Don't eat raw cookie dough when baking for the holidays
- 7 National Days to Celebrate on October 1, 2026 - National Day Calendar
Facts were checked against these sources when the post was written. Details can change, so check them for the latest.