We all know it’s gross, but is it actually harmful Double dippers are people who take a bite of a chip and then dunk their chip into a dip a second time, when they think no one is watching. An unpleasant thought and even worse when you witness someone actually doing it. Surprisingly enough, some research has actually been conducted on double dipping. In 2009 a study was conducted at Clemson University and published in the Journal of Food Safety. The study was called “Effect of biting before dipping (double-dipping) chips on the bacterial population of the dipping solution.” A very off putting title! So what did the results actually show? The researchers tested bacterial contamination before and after a person double dipped. This is what they found:
  • Bacterial counts in the dip increased substantially after a person took a bite from a chip and then dipped it in again.
  • The number of bacteria that grew in the dip varied depending on the ingredients. Salsa ended up much higher in bacteria after double dipping compared to cheese or chocolate based dips. The researchers speculated this might be due to differences in the texture and acidity of the dips.
For comparison, the researchers also found high bacterial counts when a bitten chip was dipped into water. So it’s true that a double dipper contaminates a dip with the bacterial contents of their mouth. But is that dangerous? Our mouths are ordinarily teeming with bacteria, which is fine and normal. The only risk is you may catch an infection from a person. The most likely infections are a cold or flu, streptococcal throat infection or whooping cough. Hopefully a person with symptoms of an infection would have the courtesy of never double dipping when they know they are sick. The risk is they could do it in the earliest stages of infection, before they become symptomatic. The take home message is that yes double dipping is disgusting and it’s possible to catch an infection from it. If you are going to double dip, it’s best to keep it in the family or with your significant other; people you are already sharing bugs with. Reference