If you have ever baked cookies before, you might have been tempted to take a bite of the creamy, delicious cookie dough. The Cookie Dough Cafe sells a variety of fully-edible cookie dough made without eggs for food lovers to enjoy without risking the chance of getting sick from your guilty pleasure.

“It’s just too delicious to resist,” junior Jenna Wu said.

Even though most store-bought cookie doughs are pasteurized to minimize the chance of contracting salmonella from eggs, these mixes are not completely safe to eat. In 2009, Nestle recalled its Toll House cookie dough because the mix sickened more than 69 people in 25 states with E. coli, leaving many with stomach cramps and bloody diarrhea. According to Gardiner Harris (New York Times), the victims reported that they bought the cookie dough without the intention to bake it.

Despite the package warning, many consume cookie dough without baking.

“I think [cookie dough] is great tasting,” sophomore Luke Duggan said.

In an effort to eliminate cookie dough safety concerns, female entrepreneurs Joan Pacetti and Julia Schmid decided to make safe and edible cookie dough to satisfy the cravings of cookie dough lovers by creating The Cookie Dough Cafe.

The dough is designed specially for direct consumption. Baking the dough is not recommended as it does not contain baking powder. Made without eggs, the cookie dough mix removes the chance of any customers contracting salmonella.

The owners Pacetti and Schmid appeared on the Emmy Award-winning TV show “Shark Tank” during the company’s early stage. The millionaire investors, Lori Greiner and Steve Tisch, were impressed with their product and invested $100,000 to own 30 percent of the company. The investment helped them grow their business quickly.

Starting as a small business from Illinois, the product is now sold online and in stores nationwide. For Irvine residents, there are two stores selling The Cookie Dough Cafe’s edible cookie dough in Newport Beach and Laguna Hills.