The Pillsbury Dough Products That Are Totally Safe To Eat Raw
If you're one of those people who bakes a batch of cookies and sneaks a bite of raw dough before you put it on the baking sheet, we see you (though Andrew Zimmern hates this popular sweet treat). In fact, the Pillsbury Doughboy, whose real name is Poppin' Fresh, sees you too. That's why Pillsbury's lineup of ready-to-bake cookie and brownie doughs has been safe to eat raw since 2020. The company ensures that the raw dough in the refrigerated section includes heat-treated ingredients to prevent you from getting sick, should you decide to sample it prior to baking.
That being said, only the products in the refrigerated case are safe to eat. Just to be absolutely sure, the item you buy must have a blue "Safe To Eat Raw" seal. Also, the package will specify that you can either eat or bake the dough. There are dozens of options available, including classic Pillsbury Shape Sugar Cookies and tubes of Reese's peanut butter cookie dough. Interestingly enough, there is one product that's not meant to be baked: Pillsbury's Cookie Dough Poppins are actually intended as bite-sized a raw snack.
Why cookie dough is generally unsafe to eat raw
We all know that there are potential dangers in eating any raw eggs (hello, salmonella), which is why it's best to steer away from uncooked doughs. But one thing you should also be mindful of is that eating raw flour can also be potentially dangerous, as it too can contain bacterium like E. coli and salmonella.
Pillsbury is able to use heat-treated flour at the manufacturer level, but the Food and Drug Administration cautions that heat-treating your flour at home is a dicey proposition: "Do not try to heat treat flour in your own home. Home treatments of flour may not effectively kill all bacteria and do not make it safe to eat raw."
Even still, there are recipes online that suggest how to heat treat flour yourself, but other university studies still maintain that the DIY process isn't entirely safe. So for now, your best bet is to stick with the Doughboy, who's got that method down pat. At least that means you can house entire packages of raw cookie and brownie dough without any worry.