The Baking Rule Andy Cohen Always Breaks

Food fads are as equally bizarre as they are interesting. Whether it's the way you prep your meals or how you get the most out of the money you spend on food (e.g. drinking the leftover juice in a pickle jar), we all have them! Sometimes, they present themselves in the way we consume food like eating hot dogs horizontally or licking all the icing off a cupcake before eating the actual cake part. Other times there are habits or rules we make (or break) while in the kitchen. And if there's one person who knows all about weird eating habits and breaking "suggested" rules, it's Bravo-lebrity Andy Cohen.

In a recent taping of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the late-night talk show host offered up his top five foods that he considers his personal favorites yet might be "considered gross to some," (via Bravo TV). Among them included SpaghettiOs, licking the artificial cheese off chips, casseroles, and Provel cheese. The last one is something we think that almost everyone can get behind.

Coming in fourth place in Andy Cohen's top five favorite foods that he thinks people will find nasty, is eating raw batter, like cookie dough. He proudly stated he would eat "uncooked batter of any sort, raw eggs be damned," on WWHL (via Bravo TV).

We doubt Cohen is the only person out there who loves to lick the batter off the spoon after mixing a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies — or cake, for that matter. However, the question at play still remains: is it safe? The short answer is no, due to the uncooked eggs and flour in the dough (via Healthline). However, should you take the risk? That's something you'll have to bake over.

Because uncooked batter typically includes raw eggs, you run the chance of contracting salmonella, which is a bacterial infection that can lead to a fever and upset stomach in the form of vomiting, diarrhea, or cramps. Likewise, those who have a compromised immune system or are pregnant may exhibit worse side effects, requiring hospitalization.

There is good news, however. Discover Magazine reports that using pasteurized eggs is an easy solution! As long as you're being smart about the ingredients (flour included!), you run a lower risk of getting sick. Still, raw dough always comes with risks.