Pillsbury Updates Cookie Dough Recipe, Says It's Safe To Eat Raw

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Many children have wondered why adults insist on always baking packaged cookie dough, since the gooey, sticky chocolate chip-filled stuff is delicious all by itself.

Generally, the answer is because it's simply not safe, as the dough contains uncooked flour and eggs, which can cause food poisoning. Now, however, local food-maker Pillsbury says that a number of its beloved cookie doughs are now safe to eat right out of the bag.

The Minneapolis-based company announced Monday that several of its cookie and brownie doughs are safe to eat raw, explaining that they contain heat-treated flour and pasteurized eggs. These neutralize the illness risk, while keeping the dough's baking properties intact. No other ingredients were changed.

Not all Pillsbury cookie doughs are safe to eat raw. The ones that are now bare a label on the front of the bag. The company says it hopes to have all its refrigerated cookie doughs safe to eat raw by the end of summer.

General Mills, which owns Pillsbury, is encouraging parents to record their kids' reactions to being told that they can finally just eat raw cookie dough. Parents are asked to share these videos on social media using the hashtag #SayYesChallenge.