This Is How Gross (or Not) Double-Dipping Is
Just as impolite as putting your elbows on the table, just as gross as licking your plate or spreading butter back into the tub: double-dipping should be banned. Or should it? Fortunately, scientific research has been conducted into the transfer of saliva via a tortilla chip in salsa and its negative consequences. And what did they find?
It started with Seinfeld. In the episode The Implant (where most of the attention went to Seinfeld’s date’s allegedly fake breasts, but that’s beside the point), George gets into an argument about double-dipping at a wake. It gets completely out of hand, but the guys from MythBusters kept their heads and investigated: is dipping the same chip into the dip twice just as bad as lowering your entire face into the bowl of sauce, as George claims?
Dip-dip
Nothing to worry about, according to the more or less scientific duo. Dipping your chip up and down twice does introduce some microbes into the dip, but that was completely insignificant compared with the bacteria already in the sauce. Hmm, something to think about: where do they buy that disgusting dip, and how long do they leave it out of the fridge before conducting their research?
Chips in the laboratory
According to scientists from Clemson University in South Carolina, double-dipping is a perfect way to transfer bacteria from one bar guest to another. Inspired by that same Seinfeld episode, students enthusiastically conducted research in every pub and bar in the area… No, they stayed in the laboratory.
Partygoer
The students used whole-grain crackers for their research and six different dips. Double-dipping three to six times with a cracker resulted in 10,000 extra bacteria in the dip. According to the scientists in training, each double-dip transfers around 50 to 100 bacteria from one partygoer to another. Whether that is a problem depends on the amount of sauce: a few bacteria in a kiddie pool of sauce are no big deal, but a tiny dab of red sauce can quickly become a breeding ground.
Cheese dip is safe
Another interesting conclusion: it depends on the dip. Salsa was quite susceptible to the transfer of bacteria; in the cheese dip or chocolate sauce, bacteria had less of a chance.
Also read:
- 8 reasons why a pastrami sandwich is super sexy
- Consumer watchdog: you’re being conned by vegetable wraps and vegetable chips
- These are the tastiest chips in the world
Source: Wikipedia, National Library of Medicine
