Cookie dough
Cookie dough refers to a blend of cookie ingredients which has been mixed into a malleable form which has not yet been hardened by heat. The dough is often then separated and the portions baked to individual cookies, or eaten as is.
Cookie dough can be homemade or bought pre-made in packs (frozen logs, buckets, etc.). Desserts containing cookie dough, such as ice cream, candy, and milkshake are also frequently marketed.
Cookie-dough-flavored ice cream was first popularized by Ben & Jerry's retail ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, using cookie dough from food distributor Rhino Foods.
[edit] Common ingredients
- Butter or margarine
- Sugar
- Brown sugar
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- Flour
- baking powder
[edit] Health concerns
Because of the presence of raw egg, the consumption of uncooked cookie dough increases the possibility of contracting the foodborne illness salmonellosis. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) strongly discourages the consumption of all food products containing raw egg because of this threat.[1] Cookie dough designed specifically for eating raw (such as that found in ice cream) is made either without raw egg or with pasteurized eggs and is safe to eat.[2] In June 2009, the FDA issued a recall for Nestlé Cookie Dough for potentially dangerous amounts of E. coli. There have been more than 7,000 cases of E. coli poisoning linked to this cookie dough, but none of the cases were fatal.[3]
E. coli is present in the human gut and is excreted in human feces. Human feces is processed and dewatered to produce sewage sludge and spread on fields.[4] More scientific studies need to be conducted to determine if sewage sludge might have contaminated cereal grains such as those used to produce flour for cookie dough.[5]
In 2010, Nestle decided to switch to heat treated processing for all flour used in producing cookie dough.[6]
[edit] References
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cookie dough |
- ^ Mary Ann Anderson (2008-03-22). "Deceptively delicious egg cocktails". McClatchy-Tribune News Service. http://www.nj.com/homegarden/entertaining/index.ssf/2008/03/deceptively_delicious_egg_cock.html. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~pregnant/safedai.html
- ^ Layton, Lyndsey; Gaudio, Greg (2009-06-30). "FDA Confirms Presence of E. Coli in Nestle Cookie Dough". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062903813.html. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
- ^ "EPA Land application of sewage sludge". http://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPURL.cgi?Dockey=200046QX.txt.
- ^ "EColi on cereal grains such as wheat for flour". http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/water/waterquality/sewage/documents/sludge-biosolids-report.pdf.
- ^ "Nestle to begin using heat treated flour". http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2010/01/15/Nestle-to-use-heat-treated-flour-in-dough/UPI-95001263577018/.
