Is Double Dipping Really That Bad?
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.
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