"Do not Eat Raw Dough [or Batter]" ?!

I don't know the answer, but if I were to hazard a guess I could plausibly see a concern that if you consumed enough dough, the yeast would continue producing gas in your stomach for some period during digestion which could cause discomfort or possibly danger. In small amounts such as you are doing to check salt levels, etc, I don't think there is any risk. Personally, I'll taste my straight up raw sourdough culture on occasion with no concern.

In 2009 there was an outbreak of E. Coli bacteria that was traced back to eating raw Nestle cookie dough.  They did not conclusively implicate flour but of all the ingredients, they felt, it seems most likely.

Story is here:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/09/143450624/the-surprising-ingredient-in-raw-cookie-dough-that-could-make-you-sick 

Most telling paragraph of the story  "Flour seems as bland and benign as could be, but it's still a raw agricultural product. That means it has had ample opportunity to be exposed to dirt, animal feces, and other unpleasant substances between field and grocery store shelf."

Makes me look at my dough in a totally different way.... 

Salmonella is commonly attributed to eggs in raw dough but it can actually be in almost any uncooked, natural products because it is a contamination  by infected animal feces in some form. Anything grown in a field is subject to possible contamination, as well as being stored in facilities that allow animal infiltration (mice,etc).  Alfalfa sprouts, seeds,spices, peanuts and flours have all been implicated in salmonella outbreaks in the last few years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/world/asia/farmers-change-over-spices-link-to-food-ills.html?_r=0

I think eggs and raw milk are probably the greatest source of concern in my head these days simply because of the way most eggs are mass produced and the ease with which contamination can occur in even carefully milked and healthy animals. The reason why pasteurization was so appreciated was because there were MANY people (esp children) that died of contaminated milk in the 1800's-mid 1900's.

The spices being a source was a little surprising to me and really had everyone stumped for a long time but they eventually discovered it. Fascinating investigative work-and very tedious to do.

Just don't go crazy. We are pretty hardy creatures. I eat all manner of fermented veggies, milk and fruit. I am looking into trying to ferment beans without killing myself (natto, anyone?) but the smell may kill my family.

Oddly enough, I do not like strong smelling cheese(a very different smell than soured milk). I swear a recent VERY expensive gouda cheese I bought tasted like the barn floor (at least that is how it smelled) and I could not bring myself to eat but a taste. No one else wanted it either. I threw it away. $16.00/lb-luckily I had bought only a tiny chunk. And yet, I find very ripened,aged and strained homemade yogurt cheese to be delicious.

Barer's Apprentice 2nd Class contract it reads in paragraph 6 section 2 A.  'The apprentice will eat anything the Master asks the BA2C to to taste and like it too, by wagging their tail and not upchucking on the masters bare toes.... under penalty of prolonged kenneling as punishment..... or worse as the Master sees fit.

I'm on my 3rd apprentice now and the other 2 died while in training.  Sad really........

I remember a story about missionaries stationed in a remote Nepalese village in the Himalayas that kept a sourdough starter going to make bread and also to treat villagers in need of a gastrointestinal flora restart after they had suffered bouts of diarrhea. This was before probiotics came on the scene which contain a cocktail of Lactobacillus bacteria. 

I always taste the sourdough for sourness, general taste and a dose of probiotics at an incredible cost savings...,

Wild-Yeast

The problem is indeed with the flour. But not in the amount that will always sicken a healthy person. That's why we rarely get ill from our taste test we always do.

The warnings should remind us that life is not school. In school the lesson is before the test.
In life you should learn from the test.
This is school. The lesson is there are risks. I taste. I eat cookie dough. But that's anecdotal.

Conagra makes a sterile flour for products that expose customers to that risk.
http://www.conagramills.com/our_products/safeguard.jsp

But I do like my dough better after it's baked. With butter

Conagra is inventing a feature to sell flour to their corporate customers and there are those who have reasons for such a product. The lesson? - what use is this product if you can't create a sourdough starter from it?

Guess there's some schools you just can't go to.

Wild-Yeast 

The reason eating a decent amount of raw bread dough is bad is because the acids in the stomach cause it to expand. So, because it expands in your stomach it can lead to things like stomach pains, constipation, and possibly even a ruptured stomach. So, that's why you should never eat large amounts of bread dough or batter.

http://www.annarbor.com/pets/bread-dough-yeast-fermented-raw-baking-pet-dogs-cats-dangerous-eat/

Presumably works the same for people.

cast but my wife has irritable bowel syndrome so she is affected by all kinds of things ranging from lettuce to deli meats.  I think there is a huge difference from individual to individual in what may be tolerated.

Gerhard

I've never enjoyed eating raw dough, though I've had to from time to time to test for salt or starter. 

But I used to work with a guy that would eat a marble sized piece from every batch of dough we'd make. Didn't matter what kind of dough it was, he just liked eating it. But he did say that one time when he was a child he ate a huge amount of dough from a batch of bread his mother was making and he ended up with a terrible belly ache. 

Also, Gerard Rubaud constantly tastes his dough (in very small pieces) to test for acidity. Just saying . . .