We are all probably guilty of it. It is hard to resist the sweet allure of raw cookie dough as we are baking cookies with our family even though we have been warned it could make us sick to our stomach.
The FDA has put out several warnings about the bacteria lurking in raw cookie dough that could painful cause gastrointestinal illnesses, so now the question is, is it safe to eat cookie dough?
If you have a secret cookie dough ice cream addiction, you will be happy to know commercial cookie dough products where the dough is specially prepared to be eaten uncooked are not included in these warnings.
Is raw cookie dough safe? The big concern with eating raw cookie dough is the raw flour and raw eggs. When you make cookie dough at home, you have no idea if the flour and eggs you purchased at your local supermarket has been contaminated or not with bacteria.
Safety precautions to keep in mind:
- Do not eat any uncooked dough, cake batter, or other uncooked flour products (think tortillas) or eggs at home.
- Do not make or let your children play with play dough made of uncooked dough.
- Do not touch uncooked dough at restaurants either.
The good news though is that most manufacturers of pre-made commercial cookie dough use a heat treatment for flour and a pasteurization process for eggs which are known source of Salmonella. So go ahead and enjoy your cookie dough ice cream and other cookie dough treats offered at your local treat shops.
One popular treat shop is DoDo Edible Cookie Dough & Ice Cream, which has two locations in Ocean City, Maryland. Their specialty is mixing ice cream and edible cookie dough to create the ultimate sweet treat.
Is DoDo cookie dough safe? Yes. They make fresh cookie dough daily and use a special pasteurization process that makes the cookie dough safe to consume uncooked. DoDo is known for their variety of fun cookie dough flavors including chocolate chip, snicker doodle, sugar cookie, oatmeal, M&M, peanut butter, cake batter, naked and brownie batter.
DoDo also offers 16 daily flavors of ice cream that can be combined with the cookie dough or enjoyed on their own. The simple, streamlined menu is easy to manage, but also leaves room for you to experiment with different creations and to offer a special dough of the day.
DoDo has franchising opportunities available so don’t miss your opportunity to become a part of one of the coolest new trends in sweet treats.
Here is what you can expect when you join the DoDo family:
- An established, beloved brand that will draw in the customers
- A proven model for success that will give you the support and structure you need to get your shop up and running, including a recipe for cookie dough that is safe to eat
- The ability to own multiple locations
- A low cost of entry that makes DoDo one of the more affordable franchising opportunities out there
- A chance to be a part of the coolest new trend in sweet trends
One must-have ingredient for any prospective DoDo franchisee is to have a passion for cookie dough and other sweet treats. Do you enjoy making people happy by offering them the desserts they crave? Who knew your sweet tooth could help your dreams of being a business owner come true?
Here are some tips for choosing the right franchise opportunity for you:
Have a heart-to-heart with yourself
Before you even start approaching any franchisers, you will need to ask yourself a couple of questions about why you want to do this, and what role you plan on taking in the business. Is this to increase your wealth, allow you a more flexible schedule to be home more, or to grow your business portfolio? Also you need to decide if you want to be a hands-on business owner who is involved in every part of the daily operations or will you be depending on your staff to handle that.
In addition, you should make a list of franchisers whose food you love and whose basic values you share. If you are going to invest in a franchise then you should personally believe in their product and their commitment to the customer experience.
Look very closely at your finances
Startup costs for a franchise can run the gamut from only a couple of thousand dollars to millions of dollars so you need to look realistically at what your investment budget should be. Experts suggest that you factor in what your income is from other sources, what you expect your return to be from the franchise and your general lifestyle habits. If you tend to have expensive tastes, then you will probably not want to enter into a venture into a business dealing where most of your money is put on the line. Being brutally honest with yourself is paramount if you want to succeed in the franchise business.
Make a list of what you are looking for in a brand
When you choose to buy a franchise instead of opening up your own original shop, you are signing up for that brand so it is crucial that it is one that you believe in strongly. Top qualities you should be looking for include an established support structure that can help you develop your franchise, a group of knowledgeable and skilled experts who are available to advise you every step of the way and continual training opportunities to give you the best opportunity to succeed.
Narrow down your choices
Once you have completed your initial research and have a legal or financial advisor on board, you will want to narrow down your choices to the franchises that seem like the best fit. With that checked off your to-do list, it is now time for the hard questions. Any lingering concerns that have popped up in your initial query should be addressed now. You should also ask for a list of references that you can call.
Other franchisees can give you an inside scoop on what it is really like to own a franchise with this parent company. The more you know about a potential franchiser, the more confident you will feel when making a decision.
Important key appoints to address include:
- Ask about market saturation and whether there is enough business for more locations.
- Discuss their approach to advertising and marketing so you have a clear sense of how much support in that area you will receive and how much you will have to do on your own.
- Make sure you have a clear understanding of what your relationship to the parent company will be as a franchise owner and what your responsibilities, especially those of a financial nature, will be to them.
Is cookie dough safe to eat? If it is commercial prepared? Yes. Consider getting into the edible cookie dough business yourself. DoDo has been growing quickly since it opened its first location in 2017 and shows no signs of stopping. Come join the DoDo family today!
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