FDA to America: ‘Raw dough’s a raw deal’

The federal Food and Drug Administration cautioned Americans to just say no to raw cookie dough, according to a consumer update published Tuesday.

“Eating raw dough or batter—whether it’s for bread, cookies, pizza or tortillas—could make you, and your kids, sick, says Jenny Scott, a senior advisor in FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition,” said the FDA.

The federal food regulator went further, urging parents to not give their children homemade play-dough, even if it’s not meant for consumption.

“[E]ven though there are websites devoted to ’flour crafts,’ don’t give your kids raw dough or baking mixes that contain flour to play with,” the FDA release cautioned.

“Flour, regardless of the brand, can contain bacteria that cause disease,” the agency explained. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials, is investigating an outbreak of infections that illustrates the dangers of eating raw dough. Dozens of people across the country have been sickened by a strain of bacteria called Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O121.”

With various news agencies picking up on the advisory, reactions on Facebook ranged the gamut, with some bearing a decidedly libertarian political angle.

“My advice to our over reaching government agencies, don’t tell me what I can and cannot do! If I want to do something and risk the consequences, that is my choice not yours,” complained a man from Oklahoma.

Other Facebook users tackled the development from a more liberal perspective, critical of the FDA for under-regulating the food industry and/or the food industry for not properly policing itself.

“You want us to eat meat from china that you are ok not knowing how it is processed and now you want to take away our cookie dough. I am done with you FDA,” complained one South Carolina woman. 

“Why are they just warning against eating flour raw? Why aren’t they doing something to find out WHY the wheat is contaminated in the first place???” complained another Facebook user. “Why do we have to worry about cooking all of our food because of contamination in the processing procedures. Something is very backwards here and a lot of questions should be asked.”