Doola
Download app now

Can I eat cookie dough while pregnant?

Avoid Doola Scan's answer in the United States

Raw cookie dough shows Avoid in Doola Scan in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, and Check in the UK, because raw flour and raw egg can carry E. coli and salmonella, the FDA says. The UK's FSA says not to eat uncooked dough unless it is labelled ready to eat, and Health Canada asks you to avoid raw dough. Cookie dough ice cream shows Check in all six countries. Baked cookies show No known issues.

Checked against Doola Scan's pregnancy rules · Updated

  • Raw cookie dough, homemade or from a tube

    AvoidUnited StatesCanadaAustraliaNew ZealandIrelandCheckUnited Kingdom

  • Cookie dough ice cream and desserts with dough pieces

    CheckIn all six countries

  • Cookies baked through

    No known issuesIn all six countries
Doola Scan checking a plate
What each country says

Cookie dough while pregnant: what each country says.

Each country's own pregnancy guidance on cookie dough, with a link to it. Doola Scan uses your country's first.

  • United States

    • Raw cookie dough, homemade or from a tubeAvoid
    • Cookie dough ice cream and desserts with dough piecesCheck
    • Cookies baked throughNo known issues
    • FDARaw eggs can carry salmonella.Source
    • FoodSafety.gov (HHS)Foods with raw or lightly cooked eggs only with pasteurised eggs.Source
    • FDARaw flour and eggs can carry E. coli and salmonella.Source
    • FoodSafety.gov (HHS)Avoid raw dough or batter.Source

  • United Kingdom

    • Raw cookie dough, homemade or from a tubeCheck
    • Cookie dough ice cream and desserts with dough piecesCheck
    • Cookies baked throughNo known issues
    • NHSRaw-egg foods like mayonnaise and mousse fine if made with British Lion or Laid in Britain hen eggs.Source
    • FSADo not eat uncooked flour, dough or batter unless labelled ready to eat.Source

  • Canada

    • Raw cookie dough, homemade or from a tubeAvoid
    • Cookie dough ice cream and desserts with dough piecesCheck
    • Cookies baked throughNo known issues
    • CPSAvoid raw egg and egg dishes with runny yolk, such as eggnog.Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid foods with raw egg: some dressings, sauces, cookie dough, cake batter, homemade eggnog (unless heated to 71 °C).Source
    • Health CanadaAvoid raw dough unless labelled safe to eat raw; cook foods with raw flour.Source

  • Australia

    • Raw cookie dough, homemade or from a tubeAvoid
    • Cookie dough ice cream and desserts with dough piecesCheck
    • Cookies baked throughNo known issues
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat raw egg in food (home-made mayonnaise, aioli, mousse, batter).Source
    • FSANZSafer alternatives to raw egg dishes: pasteurised eggs, commercial custard and dressings.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)Commercially made products with egg (e.g. shop mayonnaise) are fine; not homemade mayonnaise, aioli, mousse or raw cake batter.Source
    • FSANZRaw biscuit or cake batter containing egg is higher risk; eat cooked product.Source
    • NSW Food AuthorityDo not eat raw cake or pancake batter.Source
    • Pregnancy, Birth and Baby (Australian Government Dept of Health)No raw cake batter.Source

  • New Zealand

    • Raw cookie dough, homemade or from a tubeAvoid
    • Cookie dough ice cream and desserts with dough piecesCheck
    • Cookies baked throughNo known issues
    • Health NZRaw eggs in eggnog, smoothies, home-made mayonnaise, mousse, tiramisu etc: don't eat; no pasteurised-egg exception.Source

  • Ireland

    • Raw cookie dough, homemade or from a tubeAvoid
    • Cookie dough ice cream and desserts with dough piecesCheck
    • Cookies baked throughNo known issues
    • HSEAvoid foods made with raw or under-cooked eggs, such as homemade mayonnaise.Source
What to check

Before you eat cookie dough.

  1. Bake the dough before you eat it

    The FDA says raw flour and raw eggs can carry E. coli and salmonella, and FoodSafety.gov asks pregnant women to avoid raw dough or batter. FSANZ calls raw biscuit or cake batter with egg higher risk and suggests eating the cooked product. FDA

  2. Choose edible dough only if it's labelled ready to eat

    The FSA says not to eat uncooked flour, dough or batter unless the pack says it is ready to eat. Health Canada asks you to avoid raw dough. FSA

  3. Don't taste the bowl or the spoon

    Health Canada names cookie dough and cake batter among foods with raw egg to avoid, and Pregnancy, Birth and Baby says no raw cake batter. Licking the spoon counts as eating raw dough. Health Canada

Questions

About cookie dough
in pregnancy.

Raw cookie dough shows Avoid in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, and Check in the UK. The FDA says raw flour and eggs can carry E. coli and salmonella, and FoodSafety.gov asks you to avoid raw dough.

The label decides it. The FSA says not to eat uncooked dough unless it is labelled ready to eat, and Health Canada asks you to avoid raw dough. Doola Scan reads edible cookie dough as raw dough and shows the same verdicts, so the pack's own label is what to go by.

Cookie dough ice cream shows Check in all six countries. The raw dough guidance applies to the dough pieces, so read the tub for dough pieces labelled ready to eat.

Doola can't speak for a brand's recipe. A cookie dough ice cream dessert shows Check in all six countries; ask whether the dough pieces are made to be eaten raw, the way the FSA and Health Canada ask.

The guidance is about what to choose next time: baked cookies, or dough labelled ready to eat. If you feel unwell or are unsure, talk to your midwife or doctor.

Cookies baked through show No known issues. Chocolate chip cookies show Check, because chocolate counts toward the 200mg daily caffeine limit from the NHS.

The guidance is the same in every trimester. The raw flour and raw egg advice applies from the first weeks of pregnancy to the last.

Yes. Take a photo of the label and Doola Scan checks each ingredient against your country's pregnancy guidance. Food scans are free, 3 a day.
Doola Scan

Not sure about a meal? Scan it.

Point Doola at a plate, a menu or a label. It checks every ingredient against your country's pregnancy guidance and shows its sources. Food scans are free, 3 a day.

Download app now
More foods
Doola shows what official guidance says; it never diagnoses. No known issues means none of these countries' pregnancy guidance names it, not a promise that a food is safe.