Being pregnant is an amazing experience but it also comes with some restrictions as to what you can safely eat and drink.
For many moms to be this can be a confusing issue. So to help you out, we have taken a look at a question that every single pregnant woman will want to know the answer to – can you eat cookie dough ice cream while pregnant?
Check out our article below where we look at which cookie dough ice creams are safe and which are not as well as the reasons behind them.
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Brands Of Cookie Dough Ice Cream That Are Safe For Pregnant Women
The good news for pregnant women is that the majority of commercially made cookie dough ice creams are perfectly safe for pregnant women to eat.
The reason that these are safe is that the manufacturers use heat-treated flour and pasteurized eggs, milk, and cream in their ice cream – this includes the cookie dough variety.
Here are a few of the brands of cookie dough ice cream that are safe to consume while pregnant:
- Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream – They use heat-treated flour and pasteurized dairy and eggs in their ice cream and their cookie dough.
- Breyers Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream – All the ingredients used in their cookie dough ice cream are pasteurized and are safe to consume while pregnant.
- Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream – The company confirmed that all dairy products used are pasteurized and that they also use high-temperature short-time method or HTST.
- Dairy Queen’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Blizzard – This version is eggless and all flour used is heat treated. But one thing to note is that their blizzard is soft-serve ice cream and although all ingredients are pasteurized, the safety of the product relies heavily on the dispensing machine being of the highest cleaning standards.
Cookie Dough Ice Cream That Isn’t Safe For Pregnant Women
Unfortunately not every chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream is suitable for women to eat while pregnant. This can be due to unpasteurized ingredients, flour that is not heat-treated, and other factors.
Here are some examples of those chocolate chip cooked dough ice creams that are unsafe:
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This is due to the fact that cookie dough ice cream can often contain unpasteurized ingredients such as milk, cream, or eggs. In homemade ice cream, it is most often than not the raw egg that makes it unsuitable for pregnant women as there is a risk of salmonella.
However, if you do happen to have an eggless recipe or you use a pasteurized egg substitute and pasteurized dairy then as long as it is stored correctly homemade cookie dough ice cream may be safe.
Another thing for you to take note of is that the raw cookie dough made to go into ice cream must be commercially bought.
Soft-serve Cookie Dough ice cream
The potential hazard from consuming this type of ice cream while pregnant does not come from the ingredients but from the cleanliness of the serving machines – machines that are not cleaned correctly can pose issues such as listeria contamination.
If you do buy soft-serve ice cream from large chain stores or restaurants then you can usually be sure that they have strict cleaning practices in place for their ice cream machines.
But if you do fancy some from an ice cream van or street vendor bear in mind that they do not have the same strict cleaning regulations in place.
Why Does Raw Cookie Dough Pose A Hazard To Pregnant Women?
No matter whether you are mixing your cookie dough into your ice cream or eating it as it is there are a few reasons why as a pregnant woman you should be cautious of eating noncommercial or raw cookie dough or batter.
While you are pregnant you should avoid raw batter and cookie dough for the reasons below:
The possibility that it contains unpasteurized eggs
Eating raw eggs should be avoided when pregnant but it can often be difficult to know whether raw or part cooked eggs have been used in a homemade cookie dough recipe.
Contains raw flour
I know that flour does not stand out as posing a potential hazard but it is a raw product – even if it has been bleached, fortified, or processed in other ways. There have been E. coli outbreaks from consuming raw flour, so heat-treated flour is the safest option.
But you should take note that this type of flour is rarely found outside of commercial manufacturing.
Is Ice Cream Good For You While Pregnant?
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It is very common for women to crave ice cream while they are pregnant, especially if they are carrying through the warm summer months – As I did with two of my pregnancies.
There really is nothing better than cooling off with a nice bowl of ice cream. But ice cream should be consumed in moderation, whether it has cookie dough in it or not.
Ice cream is very high in fat and sugar, it’s not all bad it does contain calcium too. But it is still not the best choice to eat often while pregnant or in fact even when not pregnant.
It is one of the many foods that should be saved for an occasional treat, and if you are one of many pregnant women that develops gestational diabetes then you need to check with your health professional before eating ice cream.
FAQs
What ice cream is safe during pregnancy?
Most soft ice creams and processed products should be perfectly fine as they are made with pasteurized milk and eggs. Meaning that any risk of salmonella food poisoning has been removed.
Is homemade ice cream safe while pregnant?
If you are after a homemade ice cream you need to make sure that you use a pasteurized egg substitute or follow an egg-free recipe.
Unfortunately freezing cookie dough makes no difference to the potential hazards that it can pose to pregnant women. Freezing will not kill things such as salmonella in raw eggs or E.coli or any other pathogens found in raw flour – both of which can survive really low temperatures.
The Final Thought
Almost every pregnant woman craves ice cream at some point in their pregnancy and it makes a great treat on those hot summer days.
Ice cream comes in such a wide variety of flavors that you are sure to find one that satisfies any unusual cravings you may be having – so it is always good to know what you can and can not eat safely.
So if you are fancying cookie dough ice cream, if you stick to those brands that we have mentioned above then you should have no problems except for wanting to eat the entire tub.
If your ice cream of choice is homemade or soft-serve then you need to check that the ingredients used are pasteurized and that they have strict cleaning rules in place. But otherwise dive in and enjoy a little treat!!
If you do have a craving for other foods you may also be wondering if they are safe to eat while you are pregnant – Can you eat Chinese food while pregnant? or Is it safe to eat olives during pregnancy?
