Letting kids lick the spoon

[Nautilus]

Why is it that things we used to do as a child and did us no harm are not deemed to be dangerous. I think that this obsession with antibacterial wipes and sprays might actually be reducing our natural immunity to diseases. Having said that I still wouldn't want to do something that would make my child I'll so I will probably avoid giving home the spoon to lick.

 

[Angela]

As a child my mother wouldn't let me eat anything with raw eggs. But I had an aunt who would let me lick the cake batter and eat cookie dough and to this day its the first thing that comes to mind when talking about being at her house.
I've done it as an adult and I'm sure I'll let my son. I don't think theirs too much risk evey now and then in small amounts.

 

[Preya_M]

When I was younger, my parents would never let me lick the spoon, they considered it to be unclean (we're a very religious bunch). We never cooked with eggs but even so, they would never let me lick it. To this day I'm not allowed and I think that I will be carrying on this tradition. But, I hear many things that are "threats" to our health and we continue to do it. The truth is, something (be it whatever disease) is bound to happen eventually.

 

[loraanna]

I always licked the batter as a kid and I don't think it's a big deal. We as parents now worry about too much.
It was one of the best things whenever my mother baked we would fight over who got to lick the spoon.

 

[susieeQT]

My fondest memories were licking the bowl, spoon, beaters, anything that had leftovers from when my mom would make brownies I usually tried to stay away from cake batter or anything else other than chocolate cake mix or brownie batter, just because we'd use more eggs for those recipes, I guess. Even now, I'm careful not to let kids eat too much of the raw batter. I leave just enough for them to scrape it off the sides of the bowl. And I'd usually only eat a very small piece of cookie dough at a time.

I can understand being cautious, especially when you don't know where your ingredients are coming from. I use farm fresh eggs from my grandfather's chickens, and I make sure to clean them off well before using them.

 

[Tara]

My fondest memories are also licking the spoon of my mother's cake batter. It was a different time back then. My mom sometimes tells stories of drinking milk directly from the cow. Times were a lot simpler then.

 

[Kitty Reeves]

I used to get scolded at by my mother for licking the batter off of the beater when I was a kid, but I never got sick from it. We used strictly organic ingredients only though, so maybe that was part of it? (Also, let's be honest here, we all (probably) still lick the spoon/beater. ) I honestly don't think you'll get sick from licking a little bit of batter off of a spoon, but it's always up to the parent. It also depends on the kid sometimes. Some kids get sick much easier then others.

 

[LetThemEatCake]

My mom always let me lick the spoon, she was actually kind of disappointed when there were times that I didn't want to, haha. Like some others said, some good childhood memories come from that and I'll probably be letting my kids do it as well.

 

[DancingLady]

I lick the spoons, and did so as a while when my mother wasn't looking. I figured out it wasn't so dangerous when I caught my grandma doing it after she said not to do it. I think we need to build up our immunity. Food poisoning us probably going to happen at some point in our lives. If you've already had a little bit of exposure here and there your body will be more prepared.

 

[primalclaws1974]

I was just having this discussion yesterday with my adult children. A lot of times when people think that have the flu, especially 24-hour strains, it is because you have a weak case of salmonella, probably caused from ingesting raw eggs or chicken. Unless it got severe, one would not know it wasn't a virus. Children can be more susceptible to such things, because of a weaker immunity. I personally lick the batter bowl, and drink egg nog, and have never had an issue ingesting raw eggs, but I would probably not give it to my kids intentionally.

 

[confettine]

I always licked the spoon. As a kid, but even now. I also make my SO lick it when I don't feel like having sweets right away (many times it ruins my appetite for the main dessert!). I would not stop my kids from doing it, or any kid. It's part of the pleasure. Also, I see putting healthy people putting raw eggs in smoothies all the time, so how likely is it to be really bad?

Kids put whatever they find in their mouth anyway, hahaha

 

[Shimus]

I grew up licking the spoon. And Confettine is right, the kids put much worse risks in their mouths then a battered spoon. I've been sick with it myself (food poisoning) like Meowmie, so I can understand. But I don't feel one bad experience should ruin it. We as humans ate a lot of questionable things (ancestors, red meats, etc) so I'm not too worried about a battery spoon. Especially when I only let lick the spoon, and not the bowl. It's not like they're eating a lot of it.

 

[Winterybella]

My mom is in her mid eighties and I believe she licked a few spoons in her lifetime. I am approaching the hills and while I don't distinctly remember licking the spoons I have clear memories of using my fingers to scrape what was left on the spoons. Not sure how clean those hands were back then.

While I won't encourage licking the spoons now I feel like science wants to take the fun out of the kitchen and by extension our lives. We have to be careful about everything.

 

[Zyni]

I let mine lick the spoon when there is no raw egg involved. In some recipes, I wait to put the egg in, because I want to taste the batter first and make sure it's right (some specifically say the egg needs to go in earlier). I guess we just have to try to adjust.

 

[wahmed]

I get really annoyed with theseover catious mums. It sucks the fun out of everything. Theres nothing wrong with it.

 

[nika]

Apparently, according to a discussion I had with an aquiantance recently, we are not supposed to let the kids lick the spoon or the beaters anymore when finished mixing. She claims that there are too many risk of salmonella and such with raw eggs in the batter. I don't know about you, but I liked many a beater in my days of baking with mom and I also snuck a fair amount of cookie dough from the bowl when she turned her back. I thinks kind of silly of the tiny bit of egg they may get in a mouthfull. What are your thoughts on this?

Hi There.
My Mom wouldn't let us lick the spoons and she would threat us saying that uncooked stuff makes stomachache. As we grew older she would tell us that raw eggs are not safe for little kids. The eggs should be fully cooked before serving for kids. I,myself,have no idea what to believe. But safety is the beauty of the hero as they say in my country. I am honestly scared because nowadays the food is not as healthy as before and this theory can be proven right. Good luck and licks.

 

[ReadmeByAmy]

When I was a child my mom always gets angry if I will lick the spoon when she is finished mixing for baking or for cooking something. My mom when it comes to her kitchen is very strict and organized. She wants it to be clean always and what more if I will lick the spoon she had used. That is why I had no childhood memories when it comes to things like that. And now that I had my own family I am also like that when it comes to this matter. It is better to be sure because nowadays the foods we are buying we are not sure if it is really not contaminated and safe to eat.

 

[PrideKidd]

I am kind of opposite here. My grandmother and mother and I used to bake Christmas cookies all the time and I always lick the spoon when I am done, just like when I was a child. lol. I know you are not supposed to but I still do anyways. I do not so much care for organization when I cook because it seems the harder I try the more of a mess I make so I gave up trying,

 

[Trellum]

Sadly yes, there is a huge risk of salmonella and even listeria? Not sure about the last one, but I'd also be afraid of e-coli, because you never know what could be hiding in the dark. I was just reading about a kid who was 8 years old, last year he died from an e-coli infection. Doctors admit it's not a common occurrence to get so sick from e-coli, but can happen. The parents thought it was just another stomach bug, but it wasn't.

 

[Shimus]

I still would even there is a risk - if you only let them have a spoonful or so, it isn't going to damage the over much. Kids have a much more active immune system then adults so there's littler risk, and in such a low amount it's unlikely to cause damage.

Just don't let them lick the entire bowl, then we'll have problems! haha.