Caroline Giardina of Depew admits to sneaking a bite of cookie dough when she bakes.

“I guess everybody does it one time or another,” she said.

But just because more than half of all Americans like to eat raw cookie dough doesn’t mean it’s safe — until now.

Rich Products Co. unveiled its newest product Thursday, Mrs. Field’s Cookie Dough Snacks. Made without eggs and using specially treated flour, the bite-sized snacks were invented by a Rochester mom to be safely consumed raw, without the salmonella risks usually associated with unbaked cookie dough.

Donna Reeves-Collins perfected the safer recipe after customers at her Rochester restaurant admitted they liked to eat the raw dough she sold to be baked at home.

She began selling the chocolate- drizzled treats at Rochester’s Tom Wahl’s burger chain but began looking for a partner to take distribution to the next level. She paired up with Rich’s, she said, because of the “quality and breadth” of its operation.

“Mrs. Field’s is such an iconic brand, and together with Rich’s it was such a strategic partnership it made all the sense in the world to land there,” said Reeves-Collins.

The product is now sold in all 72 Wegmans stores and Mrs. Field’s retail outlets, including those at Walden Galleria and the Boulevard, Eastern Hills and McKinley malls. Resealable 10-ounce bags retail for $3.99.

Samantha Maziarz Christmann