The CDC is harping on us again to stop eating raw cookie dough. At least three people have been hospitalized from a salmonella outbreak linked to flour, so that's why.
Most people don't think of flour as something that would cause food poisoning. But "Consumer Reports" just ranked the top ten foods that do, and flour is #10.
1. Bagged salad and other leafy greens. They found 50 different recalls linked to them since 2017. They also caused the most deaths.
2. Deli cheese and meat.
3. Ground beef.
4. Onions.
5. Turkey.
6. Chicken.
7. Papayas.
8. Peaches.
9. Cantaloupe.
10. Flour.
So why can flour be risky? Because like most of the stuff on the list, it's raw and uncooked.
Wheat sometimes gets exposed to animal droppings while it grows, and turning it into flour doesn't kill the bacteria.
Cooking it is the only way to make sure you kill it. That's why you're not supposed to eat raw cookie dough, or lick the spoon when you make brownies.
A lot of dough like that has eggs too. They didn't make the Top 10, but they can also have salmonella.