If you’re anything like George Costanza in "Seinfeld," the double-dip is standard play at any Christmas party, work function or weekend barbecue. You take one chip, you dip and take a bite, then you dip the chip again. Because who wants a single dipped chip, right?
Well, according to new research out of Clemson University in South Carolina, you’re disgusting and putting others at a significant health risk. In other words, just take one dip and end it.
The practice of double-dipping is a contentious one. You have the Georges of the world on one side of the table who see no harm in going in for a second dip; then on the other side, you have team Timmy, who are strongly opposed to the double dip.
In an attempt to reveal the health perils of going in for a second serving of salsa, an undergraduate research team from the university conducted a series of experiments. Can the bacteria in your mouth make it onto the chip then into the dip? The answer is yes — your dip is dirty!
The students started with comparing bitten versus unbitten crackers. They looked at how much bacteria went from a cracker to a cup of water.
“We found about 1000 more bacteria per milliliter of water when crackers were bitten before dipping than solutions where unbitten crackers were dipped,” Professor Paul Dawson wrote in his article.