Have you ever wondered if it is safe to sample or “lick the bowl” after mixing a cake or cookie dough? I grew up when “cleaning the beater” or licking it clean was a treat. Several years ago my son begged me to buy a roll of chocolate chip cookie dough he could eat as a snack. My instincts said don’t take the chance. If the package instructions are to cook before eating, do not stray from the directions.

Recently, Cold Stone Creamery recently recalled its Cake Batter Ice Cream. No other flavors of ice cream have been associated with illness to date. The following states have had laboratory confirmed Salmonella Typhimunium illness cases: Massachusetts, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota, Ohio, Michigan, and California. A case in Illinois was confirmed but is counted in Virginia since that is where the person ate the ice cream.

U.S. Food and Drug officials, during their investigation, have confirmed that the sweet cream ice cream base was pasteurized and the dry cake mix that was added to the ice cream base was labeled by the manufacturer a baking mix. All recipe variations included instructions for baking.

This Cake Batter Ice Cream was prepared in food service establishments. The preparation involved adding a dry cake mix to a pasteurized sweet cream base and the combination did not undergo additional processing prior to freezing. Dry cake mix is a product that has been designed to be rehydrated and then cooked. Dry cake mix should not be considered a ready-to-eat food because it has not been processed to ensure that pathogens have been destroyed or reduced in numbers to an acceptable level. Ready-to-eat foods are typically processed to ensure that they are safe to consume without further cooking. Similar products, such as “cookie dough” ice creams and “cake mix” milk shakes, could also pose a serious food safety risk if they are prepared with ingredients that are intended to be cooked.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing the retail and food service industries that incorporating an ingredient that is intended to be cooked into a ready-to-eat food that will not be cooked or otherwise treated to eliminate microorganisms of public health concern can pose a serious food safety risk.

FDA is asking food service operations to review their menus for these types of products and to either work with their suppliers to ensure all ingredients are intended to be ready-toeat or to process their final products to eliminate microorganisms of public health concern. Also, routine precautionary measures should also be taken to prevent cross-contamination from raw products and surfaces that have not been adequately cleaned and sanitized.

So, to answer the question, “Is it safe to lick the bowl?” Who wants to take a chance? Remember, any uncooked egg or cake mix more than likely will have Salmonella Typhimurium. If you have any further questions, please contact the Retail Food Protection Program, Center For Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration at 301-436-2440 or 301-436-2438.