Buzz
With holiday parties in full swing and cold and flu season peaking, the snack table at your office gathering might be a hotspot for germs.
Much like George Costanza, you likely already suspected double-dipping was unsanitary—and science now backs this up. As reported by Scientific American, Clemson University researchers investigated whether double-dipping truly raises bacteria levels in shared dips. Could germs transfer from a chip to a communal salsa bowl? And do different dips yield different outcomes?
Given that our mouths are far from sterile, some of the findings were unsurprising. The study, published in the Journal of Food Safety, revealed that water samples exposed to bitten crackers three to six times contained roughly 1000 more bacteria per milliliter than those touched by whole crackers. In a follow-up experiment, the team used solutions with pH levels mimicking common dips. The results showed that more acidic solutions had fewer bacteria after several hours.
As expected, salsa, chocolate, and cheese dips that were not double-dipped had significantly fewer bacteria. Interestingly, salsa subjected to double-dipping accumulated nearly five times more bacteria compared to chocolate or cheese dips. Researchers suggest this could be due to salsa's thinner consistency, allowing it to drip off the cracker and back into the bowl, bringing along bacteria from the eater's mouth. However, the natural acidity of salsa eventually reduced bacterial levels to match those of the other dips.
The takeaway? Be cautious about double-dipping at your next office gathering—and cross your fingers that your colleagues exercise the same restraint.
