The Popular Sweet Treat Andrew Zimmern Says 'Sucks'

If you haven't noticed, one current food infatuation is raw cookie dough, or "edible" cookie dough, as it is called when it is made expressly for eating unbaked. How widespread is this trend? One recent TikTok video demonstrating a recipe for the sweet indulgence has 14.4 million views.

But what's the appeal of edible cookie dough when warm, freshly baked cookies are so delicious? Is it the childhood nostalgia associated with licking the spatula? Sure, but that's just part of it. According to Rhino Foods, there's actually a primal, evolutionary instinct to eat a combination of "raw" ingredients such as sugar, butter, and flour, as "uncooked fats and sugars provide a more concentrated dose of the things our body is looking for." 

Of course, you probably know by now that actual raw cookie dough is not safe to eat. Not only does it pose a risk of salmonella due to the presence of raw eggs, but surprisingly, per Cleveland Clinic, raw flour can also harbor unsafe bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella. Of course, the secret to making edible cookie dough is heat-treating the flour to kill nasty germs and skipping the eggs altogether. While you can make your own edible cookie dough, brands like Nestlé offer a ready-to-eat version on store shelves.

One person you'll never find digging into a batch of uncooked dough, however, is Andrew Zimmern. He absolutely hates the stuff.

Andrew Zimmern has eaten a lot of strange things without complaint. The host of "Bizarre Foods" even found something to enjoy in coconut tree grubs. But don't ask him to eat raw cookie dough.

In an "Ask Me Anything" session on his YouTube channel, Zimmern discussed foods that everyone seems to like — except for him. "Raw cookie dough," mused the "Iron Chef" star. "Why do people eat raw cookie dough? It sucks ... [It] tastes like raw flour with sugar and other crap in it. It's terrible!" Showing his great sense of humor, Zimmern suggested a more traditional dessert: "Cooked cookie dough is amazing," he said. "I call it a cookie." Licking icing off a spatula, he gets. But raw flour, he opined, "is just a horrific taste."

Commenters on Zimmern's video were divided. "To me there is something super satisfying about tasting all the raw ingredients coming together before I cook it, and raw flavors in general. But with cookie dough not only does it taste sweet but it also has so much nostalgia behind it, even then I can only eat a spoon full or two," said one fan. Another agreed with Zimmern: "My wife is team cookie dough ... Sometimes I think she would be happier with raw uncooked brownie batter, cookie dough and even cake batter than the actual finished product." Another follower concurred, "Give me a chocolate chip cookie instead any day." To each their own!