Just thought I'd share this...most of you already know..but it's worth keeping in mind as it just happened to my friend.
About a month ago, my best friend's wife made cookies and cake. Mom gives her 8 year old little boy a bit of cookie dough also. The DH says "Baby, are you sure thats safe?"
"Oh sure..grandma used to give us the beaters and fresh cookie dough all the time."
The next morning, junior is not looking well at all and having extreme cramps, fever, etc. A trip to the E.R. and 2 days of testing..by now he is in REALLY BAD SHAPE...a sharp nurse pops up and says "Has he eaten anything with raw egg in it, chicken...pastry batter..cookie dough?"
Ahhhh....he tested positive for salmonella poisoning.
Fortunately, he is now out of the hospital after over a week and doing pretty good, hopefully he will stay this way and not get the lifetime arthritis that sometimes afflicts those that contracted salmonella. His mother is pretty crushed about the entire thing and is now the safe food prep queen. Dad is consoling mom....
Anyhow..."Can I lick the beaters?" Better not...and though I find it hard myself...keep your own fingers out of your mouth!

Very good point. Thanks for the reminder!

I never let my kids eat raw egg products (batter cookie dough), but I have to admit I let myself and my husband do it. I guess we should be more careful too. My thinking (likely flawed) is that our immune systems are better developed than those of little kids (3 and 4).

Thanks for the reminder too!

Oh my gosh! That poor child! I, also, never allow the kids to eat batter with raw eggs......thanks for the scare....we need that sometimes!!!!

And...I'm glad he's doing better!

WOW that is sooooooooo scary.. I let my Brian (3yrs. old) lick the beater all the time.. Never again!!! Thanks for the info..

I know when I was a kid we ate raw cookie dough...Don't know what the problem is today....I don't eat anything raw....
Good point taken..

wow thanks for sharing that is very scary, even though i know "they" say youcan get sick eating cookie dough and cake batter I had actually never heard of it really happening before. I almost always tell my kids NO on this, but now I will always tell them no. Thanks for making this danger seem REAL.

Life happens. The chance of getting salmonella from licking the beaters is remote. I've never been inclined just to eat a hunk of raw cookie dough. I guess that would up your chances of getting salmonella quite a bit. Poor mom. Probably feels so guilty.

When I first started reading this post....I was waiting for the punch line, thinking you were telling a joke. Definitely not a joke!! Very happy to hear that the child is doing ok!

I always used to justify eating batter and Eggnog by saying "Well, if Rocky can do it, it must be okay." (A reference to the first Rocky movie). Anyway, I thought "Rocky is the poster boy of good health, so it must be okay." I know it's just a movie but it's what I told myself. Not anymore. Rocky is fiction, Salmonella isn't.

Thanks Dale for sharing this information.

Just to clarify, in the first Rocky movie, Rocky's trainer had him eat raw eggs for protein.

Thank you so much for the scare. I always let my kids lick the bowls and beaters. I will not ever let them do it again. I also have always said that I used to do it when I was little and I never got sick, so its ok.

So, how come cookie dough ice cream is so popular?

True confession here.....I always let my kids lick the beaters and bowls. DH is always telling me that's not safe, it has raw eggs in it, and I always kind of roll my eyes, call him "Safety Sam" and remind him that my mom always let us do it and we never got sick. I guess I'm being way too naive with that whole "It'll never happen to us" mentality. Guess I should apologize to hubby and have a talk with the kids.

Thanks for the story, Dale.

Cookie dough ice cream isn't mad with real cookie dough. It is a piece of candy that tastes and looks liek cookie dough. It has no eggs.
Saw a tv show on it once.

Me and a friend of mine were talking about this yesterday
How can someone lick something that has raw eggs in it
Gad to know we're not the only one

ASHiana

As a child we always licked the beaters and ate raw cookie dough. I think it has something to do with the hormones injected into chickens etc.

In my house we don't eat raw weiners or bologna but as a child I did. I really crave uncooked bologna sometimes. But don't take any chances even though I am a healthy person.

No joke this time...which is unusual for me! I must confess, Im a beater licker and have given the my little girl countless times and never thought twice about it. I grew up on grandma's cake and licking the bowl. I always thought it was no big thing until it happened to my friend's little boy. I almost fell over when he told me it was salmonella. Yes, life happens, but if happens to your baby, it really really sucks. Since this happened, Im wiping down everything with clorox wipes as I go, not overkill but just trying to develop safer habits. Savor this post..it's one of my "rare" serious moments!

Little factoidfrom the USDA, which really surprised me, I thought the chances of it were way low. Guess not.
The USDA: nearly 900,000 Americans become ill each year from eating raw or undercooked eggs and egg products contaminated with Salmonella.

OucHHHHHHHH! Boy am I glad I read this thread. Got a habit of doing that myself. Won't no more!

DD helps me make the cookies, and boy is she fast about getting her fingers in there for a little taste. Don't know what I'll do now.

I think I've read somewhere that the incidence of Salmonella was down for a while but is on the rise again. From the NIH webpage:
"Every year, CDC receives reports of 40,000 cases of salmonellosis in the United States. The agency estimates that 1.4 million people in this country are infected, however, and that 1,000 people die each year with salmonellosis."

Scary stuff.

i never eat cake batter...but i eat plenty of frosting!

I eat cake batter.. that's why I can't loose weight! I was watching Paula Dean's show this past Tues (I think), she was making a strawberry no bake meringue. She added 2 or 3 eggs to it. As she was doing so she made a comment on raw eggs. Can't remember her exact words but she said something like this, "I always check the date on the eggs, I always check for cracked eggs, I always check for dirty eggs.

That's what I do too. I also crack the eggs one at a time in a bowl to check for color & freshness. If that egg looks good I put it in my big bowl. I do each egg like that. I have never gotten sick. I sure love raw batter & cookie dough! I will think twice before giving it to a child. They can't fight diseases like adults can.

I JUST had this conversation with my 14 year old the other day! He wanted to lick the beaters and I told him know and explained the dangers of raw eggs...I really just didn't want him in the kitchen while I was working on 5 things at one time, but it worked!! I am glad I didn't give in!

I think we were all able to eat the raw egg items when we were younger because of all the mud pies with dirt crumble topping we ate!!!

LOL TC!!! I lost 9lbs when I gave up the batter and frosting. I started out by putting my teeth whitening trays in my mouth while I was baking. That kept the sweets out. Now I'm pregnant and the weight is back, but I'm especially careful not to eat raw eggs when I'm pregnant. Sure do miss the taste of cake batter though!