I can't imagine baking cookies or a cake without indulging in several large spoonfuls of delicious dough or batter. Sometimes it's better than the finished product.

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The European perspective on this is very different from that of the US. I've lived in Ireland for six months now and at first I was quite shocked by the grocery store aberrations: eggs on unrefrigerated shelves, a wealth of refrigerated, rather than frozen, dinners, baskets of uncovered baked goods, loads of cheeses made from unpasteurized milk. I'm used to it now. And I love runny eggs, sushi, raw oysters, rare steaks, slightly pink pork, and all kinds of "dangerous" foods.

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Oh, please. I've been eating raw cookie dough, cake batter, bread dough, etc. for 45 years, and I let my 8-year-old do the same. Neither of us has gotten sick or died yet!

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When I saw this headline, I thought it meant licking the beaters while the mixer was still going!

I've seen recommendations for using pasturized egg products in foods meant to be eaten uncooked or slightly undone (egg nogs for example). But I've also read that the risk of salmonella from raw eggs is highly exaggerated too..

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If lovin' sushi is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

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Absolutely. I'm a healthy person in possession of an immune system and I don't subscribe to the theory that I should live in terror of the 0.000001% chance (number pulled out of the air before someone starts quoting me) of something going Wrong. I don't subscribe to the culture of fear in any aspect of my life, and most certainly not in my eating. I lick the beaters, I enjoy my raw steak and I'll meet everyone at the sushi buffet after work. :)

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The REAL risk isn't in getting sick, the risk is someone suing someone IF they got sick. Personal responsibility. Unfortunately we in the US don't take it enough while people in other countries do.

If someone gets sick from eating a raw egg in the US, they are calling their lawyer before their doctor.

I make desserts all the time with raw eggs, carpaccio, cookie dough, etc.

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P.S. I stick my fingers in the sauce too.....don't eat at my house...

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I'm a food science major and I take sanitation and food microbiology classes where I learn about all the nasty sicknesses you can get from bacteria and do I still eat all those things? You bet I do! A world without cookie dough, brownie batter, sushi, and runny eggs is not a good one.

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Risky food behavior starts when we are very young in my family....we all have and still do nibble on grandma's raw meatball mix(pork, Beef and veal with raw egg, breadcrumbs, herbs and grated cheese)it's delicious and none of us have ever gotten sick.
http://www.noshtalgia.blogspot.com/

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Life is a calculated risk. We Americans seem to forget that. We want everything to be perfectly safe and totally homogenized. Unfortunately, no risk, no reward...just the sameness of McFood.

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My great grandmother used to say "You've got to eat a peck of dirt before you die".

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Quality of ingredients is a big factor in this equation, I think. If I'm assured that the ingredient in question is fresh, well-handled, and well-raised, then I don't have a problem with eating it undercooked.

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I had salmonella last summer from some underdone mini baked Alaskas that my mom made for my sister's graduation. Even though I was miserably ejecting all manner of food for a week, it was completely worth it. Though in my case, the riskiness was accidental, I say long live pink pork, runny yolks, and cookie dough. Who wants those things cooked through?! Except maybe the cookie dough, I suppose... :)

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Don't forget real chocolate mousse or caesar salad made with raw eggs (delicious), or the five second rule. Didn't many of us grow up on red dye #5, saccharine and tuna with mercury in it? Have you ever known anybody or known anybody who knew anybody that died from any of that stuff? I think it is like antibacterial soap, you're body is supposed to encounter a few germs and bacteria and if you are neurotic you lose the anitbodies to fight the bad stuff.

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I love me some raw cookie dough, sushi, and under-cooked burgers. The only time I've had food poisoning is after eating fully cooked Thai food.

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When we were kids, the food chain had not become so industrialized as to be unrecognizable to our grandparents. While I don't know anyone who has died of food-related illness, I do know a little girl who spent a week in the hospital battling E-coli. So for myself, yes to sushi, raw eggs, and blood-rare steaks, but for toddlers and little kids, I'm all for taking the precautions our industrialized meat industry has led to.

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I once dated a guy who was a fiend for cookie dough. We would sometimes, in place of popcorn, make a small batch of cookie dough to munch on while watching a movie, and for those I would just leave out the egg.

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I agree with everyone above! And the fact that we should be careful when it comes to small children and older adults. That to me is just common sence. But one thing we used to do in our family that I would NO WAY do now is, we used to eat raw ground beef with a little garlic salt on it! Ohhhhh I used to love it! My mom and i would have a few nibbles before it went into the the pan. Well years later I was preparing something when my husband caught me induldging in this habit,he almost whacked my hand off(not really but doesn't it sound dramatic?). The meat went flying! He then told me about all I could contract from doing what I was doing including mad cow! I have not done it since. Bye bye steak tar tar! So sad!

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The Japanese have one of the longest life expectancies in the world. Raw food is a risk, but it can be migiated.

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