Really? I thought. Who 'sneaks a taste' of raw flour? In our ever litigious society, companies have to be prepared -- warning you that coffee is hot, that lawn mowers shouldn't be used as hedge trimmers, and that plastic bags aren't toys. But do people really eat raw flour? Remembering reading about a condition called pica in which some people consume dry laundry starch, I asked Mr. Google. Sure enough-- Uncooked starch is another very commonly craved item. This can take the form of corn starch, uncooked rice, raw tubers and raw flour. This is called amylophagy. Other non-food items frequently craved include dry powdery substances like baby powder, ash, chalkboard chalk, baking powder and charcoal. I can't even imagine a mouthful of any of these . . . but maybe that warning isn't as silly as it seemed.
Further investigation led to information on the dangers of consuming raw cookie dough or cake batter--which contain, of course, raw flour. Which may contain bacteria (which will be killed by cooking.) Even a small taste of uncooked dough or batter could be particularly bad for young children or folks with compromised immune systems. Yikes and dang! I've never been into raw cookie dough the way some folks are but I've licked many a spoon that had cake batter on it. Nevermore.
