The ‘Seinfeld’ Double-Dip Is Exactly as Gross as It Seems, According to Science (2024)
Chips and dip make for an easy appetizer at social gatherings: Buy some packaged food and dump it on a plate. But the act of biting into a chip and then dunking it back into the dip, or “double-dipping,” seems like an invitation to spread disease. We don’t walk up and take random bites of food from a person’s hand, so why do we tolerate this?
In an investigative piece for Bon Appétit, writer Ali Francis posed the question to a number of scientists. One of them was Paul Dawson, PhD, who in 2009 authored what may be the definitive study on whether double-dipping is a sanitary practice. The conclusion: It’s disgusting.
Dawson conducted a number of experiments to assess bacterial transfer from a person’s mouth to a communal trough—in this case, a glass of water. An unmolested cracker transferred comparatively few germs when dipped in the water. But a bitten cracker contaminated the water with 1000 more bacteria per milliliter.
Because we don’t snack on chips and water, Dawson also examined bacterial transfer between bitten and unbitten crackers into a variety of dips, including salsa (Tostitos Extra Chunky, if you’re wondering) and cheese. The dips had no detectable bacteria prior to dipping. After a double-dip, the bacteria increased in number up to five-fold, demonstrating that germs from our mouths use crackers as a highway to the dips.
Whether those germs are going to prove harmful is harder to assess. All mouths contain some bacteria, which may not be an issue. Other times, our mouths will harbor communicable disease, like the common cold, flu, and COVID-19. If someone with problematic bacteria double-dips, it’s certainly possible for other dippers to ingest a scoop of staph with their Tostitos.
Dawson also observed that the kind of dip used matters. Salsa, which is more acidic, is less hospitable to germs. On the other hand, it’s thin enough so that the dip is more likely to run down a cracker and infect the dipping bowl. Thicker dips may not allow bacteria to move around as easily. Someone might double-dip on one corner, leaving the opposite corner of the bowl a somewhat safer option.
So how concerned should you really be? If someone with obvious symptoms of illness is double-dipping, it would be wise to avoid whatever bowl they’re hovering over. Really, they shouldn’t be at a party in the first place. (Though of course asymptomatic people can spread trouble, too.) Otherwise, you can just accept some bacterial transfer is likely and go on with your life. Dips have germs, but so do doorknobs, bathrooms, spice cabinets, and the couch where that one guy keeps sneezing.
Still worried? You can try getting to the dip early, use a spoon to grab some on a plate, and have your own dipping station. Hosts can also consider offering smaller chips or crackers that encourage single-dipping.
The dips had no detectable bacteria prior to dipping. After a double-dip, the bacteria increased in number up to five-fold, demonstrating that germs from our mouths use crackers as a highway to the dips.
“That is certainly gross but not risky.” Still, to completely avoid the potential uninvited bacteria from double-dippers, Singh says prevention is simple: Encourage “single-dipping.”
It was ultimately determined that roughly 10,000 bacteria made it from the mouths of the volunteers back into the communal dip bowl when people double-dipped between three and six times. Whether or not you actually wind up sick will depend on how many bacteria are present and what kind they are.
“Double dipping” is an equitable distribution/spousal sup-port concept that has gained some acceptance. Generally speak- ing, a double dip can be understood as counting the same income.
The participants took a bite of the cracker and then dipped it for three seconds into a tablespoon of test dip. This was repeated up to six times, each time with a new cracker. The results were definitive: three to six immersions of the cracker managed to transfer about 10 000 bacteria from the mouth to the dip.
We found that in the absence of double-dipping, our foods had no detectable bacteria present. Once subjected to double-dipping, the salsa took on about five times more bacteria (1,000 bacteria/ml of dip) from the bitten chip when compared to chocolate and cheese dips (150-200 bacteria/ml of dip).
Double-dipping can transfer bacteria from the mouth to the dip, increasing the risk of spreading illnesses and being perceived as unsanitary by others. Alternatives like using a spoon for individual portions or flipping the food item can help enjoy shared foods safely and respectfully.
Research has all but proven that double-dipping is downright dirty. A 2009 study by Clemson University published in the Journal of Food Safety found high amounts of bacteria present in dips when already-bitten snacks were dipped in.
“Double dipping,” or dipping twice with the same chip, is widely regarded as a social faux pas because it is believed that this practice transfers saliva to the dip and spreads germs. This experiment will evaluate whether there is any truth to this theory.
It is often referred to as double dipping, as one uses the same data twice. Circular analysis unjustifiably inflates the apparent statistical strength of any results reported and, at the most extreme, can lead to the apparently significant result being found in data that consists only of noise.
Chocolate and cheese dips are thicker than salsa.The lower viscosity means that more of the dip touching the bitten cracker falls back into the bowl rather than sticking to the cracker. And as it drops back into the communal container, it brings with it bacteria from the mouth of the double-dipper.
The truth is somewhere in the middle. As it happens, there has been a single scientific study conducted on the topic — and it found that each instance of double-dipping does transfer a few thousand bacteria from the dipper's mouth to the bowl.
The Transfer of Bacteria: One of the main concerns with double dipping is the potential transfer of bacteria from the mouth back into the communal dip. Research has shown that when a person takes a bite of a chip and then re-dips it, bacteria from their mouth can indeed end up in the dip.
“For example, if someone has an open cold sore, the risk of transferring the herpes simplex virus through double dipping is much lower than from kissing.
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