Alright you guys, we’re about to tackle a super controversial topic with sides as divided as our current political climate. I’m talking about double dipping, and with holiday party season in full swing, it’s a topic that needs to be addressed—especially since science just confirmed that double dipping is unhygienic and super gross.
Wanna double dip that salsa and chip? You’re adding about 5x more bacteria back into that salsa and sharing it with the rest of the party! Basically a new research study from Clemson University in South Carolina confirmed that many dips take on tons of bacteria when subjected to double-dipping. That being said, the amount of bacteria transferred as a result of double dipping depends on the thickness and acidity of the dip. So you’ll be glad to know that chocolate dips {like fondues} are less likely to see a large bacteria increase, although there will still be a slight one!
Now I’m sure people have known or suspected this for years and some have cared and some haven’t. The double dippers feel that a chip or cracker cannot simply be dipped once and shoved into your mouth. It’s wasting half of its surface that could be once again coated with dip or salsa of some sort with just a quick second dip. But many other germaphobes have probably already stopped reading this post for fear of gagging at the sheer mention of double dipping.
So now’s your chance to fess up. Are you a double dipper or does that make you cringe?
Truth time: I totally am a double dipper if it’s a family party, but otherwise… HECK NO. Party foul! I think it’s super gross to double dip around strangers or acquaintances. It weirds me out. What about you?
Do dip or not to dip? That is the question.
Party on,
~Mavis
Lynda says
No double dipping, even with immediate family–we’re all double-dipperphobes.
Kate says
The only time I double dip is if it’s a small bowl that I’m not sharing and there won’t be leftovers. Otherwise-ick!
Angela D. says
Same here. My teenage daughter and I are just disgusted when my husband double-dips: when we go to the fridge for the dip, we find it all watery and separated! Each person should scoop out their own individual portion.
Rozy says
The separation isn’t caused by double dipping; that’s just the nature of sour cream, the base of most dips. After taking some, use a clean spoon to smooth the top surface and you won’t have any more separation. I do agree that each person should dip out what they want onto a plate and double dip to their hearts content with their own portion.
kristianna says
This is exactly right!
AJ says
Only alone or with the HH! 🙂
Carrie Council says
No double dipping unless I am eating alone. So gross! On the other hand my friends and I swap beers for taste testing regularly. My reasoning is the alcohol kills the germs. We’ve been doing this for years and we don’t seem to pass any crud to each other.
Earlene says
I worked at a grocery store as a product demonstrator, really surprisingly people tend to forget where they are and want to double dip, needless to say we had to tell them and post a sign, ick is all I can say!!
Miriam says
My husband’s family doesn’t care, but I do. Some of them have had mono and you never know if someone is getting sick. You may as well keep your germs to yourself. It’s not hard to use a small bowl or cup for personal dipping spaces.
Say no to double dips!
Amy says
What about flipping the chip/cracker/bread/whatever around and dipping the “clean” side? I’ll do that at family get-togethers, otherwise it’s a no-no!
Angela D. says
Hmmmmm….It’s a maybe from me! I might do this with close family, but not around strangers.
KC says
If it’s a long cracker (or similar; long skinny crunchy breadsticks) I’ll sometimes pre-dip both sides, holding it in the middle… but it looks pretty weird and risks dropping some dip and I basically only do that at home. If something tear-able like pita but cut into way-more-than-one-mouthful pieces, I’ll tear off a smaller piece, dip that, then tear again, dip that…
Rosaleen says
I’m in Amy’s camp of dipping the other end, but only with household members.
Katie says
No to double dipping. At a party, put out small plates and a spoon in the dip. Each person can scoop some dip onto their individual plate.
Julie P says
I totally agree with this Katie and I can’t understand why so many hosts/hostesses don’t put out spoons so you can put some dip and chips on your plate, it’s gross having to share the dip with others. I always find a way to get to it first put mine on my plate then leave the area! Otherwise I do without!
Lace Faerie says
I always put a spoon in the dip. I have severe allergies and cannot risk having someone put a carrot straight into the veggie dip! So that means, I have a really hard time at social gatherings with food. I hate to look picky or offend anyone, so I beg off saying if I eat now, I won’t be hungry enough to make dinner when HH gets home. 🙂
Gail C says
I wouldn’t cough or sneeze in my loved ones’ faces (nor anyone else’s). Double dipping
is the same rude sharing of germs.
Sea says
Definitely no double-dipping, unless I’ve taken my own portion. Yuck!!! My husband’s family doesn’t even ever use serving utensils for communal dishes at meals, they just stick their used fork right into the serving dish—I still can’t deal with that after nearly 20 years! And then my MIL acts like I’m a crazy germaphobe (otherwise she’s a wonderful woman & MIL). It’s like spitting into the food, as far as I’m concerned. Uhhh!!! I always try to serve myself first, and hope for the best.
Mary Ann says
OMG, that is disgusting! They make serving utensils for a reason. This is the first time I’ve EVER heard of someone not using them.
Mable says
This communal eating style is very common in other countries. Westerners tend to be more phobic about the possibility of germs.
Erin Wilson says
I used to be very germaphobe about stuff like this. Where I live in Iraq, folks eat from a common plate and share a single glass at the meal. I won’t share a glass with a little kid (because omg) but I’m totally relaxed about the rest now.
That said, I won’t double-dip if any of you invite me over. Promise.
Cheri says
I can’t imagine double-dipping with anyone but my family–that seems very rude–but if no one was looking, I’d dip another side of the chip that I hadn’t touched. I don’t see anything unhygienic about that, but I’d wait until no one was watching just to avoid the possibility of people thinking that I was dipping the same side.
Randi says
There is an old Seinfeld episode on this very topic!
Patty P says
This is the first thing I thought of when I saw the title of the post!
Katherine says
Gross! I’m so opposed to double dipping that I will not service dips or salsa’s to guests or partake of them at someone’s house or at a party.
Deborah says
This is why I have small bowls for dip. This way, no one will double dip in the main bowl. Yes, more dishes, BUT fewer germs are shared and spread.
Gail says
No double dipping for me except with my husband. Since most of the posts are anti-double dipping, are we just more vocal on the subject or are double dippers ashamed to admit it and can’t really justify it?
Rozy says
I don’t double dip in communal bowls, unless it’s just our family, after all I know if someone has something communicable. At parties I prefer to spoon the dip onto a plate and then who cares what I do with my food.
I do wonder why the study doesn’t say if the bacteria is harmful or benign or beneficial. After all, everything is contaminated, so to speak, with bacteria of one sort or another. Most bacteria is benign and we have a symbiotic relationship with most of it. Our stomach acids are pretty good at killing most harmful bacteria; and who’s to say that the bacteria didn’t just fall in the dip from the very air itself and everyone’s breathing? Germophobes drive me a little batty, the vast majority of us live long lives despite the daily exposure to tons of germs. Our bodies were designed to withstand the onslaught. But to each her own.
Kissiah Aiken says
Break the chip in half, dip both of them and enjoy!
Jamie says
I can not handle double dipping. If I see it happen, I HAVE TO SAY SOMETHING. When we have an appetizer party I put out dips in individual servings, like salsa in tortilla “scoop” chips or french onion dip in mushroom caps. Seeing someone dip a chip twice or worse (literally the worst I’ve seen… a child dip his finger in a chocolate dip, then lick, then do it again) is the reason I’ve literally had to say some quick goodbyes and leave
Patty Mayhew says
I make sure to set out little bowls with a spoon or something to dip out the dip into for each person. I don’t like double dippers! It’s unsanitary I think to double dip.
Jenny Young says
This is controversial? I’m super surprised anyone would think this is ok unless you’re double dipping with someone you already kiss.
Jane Andrews says
I’m with the people who will scoop some dip on their plates or break a chip into two pieces. And I have to add that although I have two children, I am totally grossed out by people who finish the food their kids leave on their plates. Yuck.
Mary Ann says
I never needed a study to tell me how unhygienic double dipping is. Gross! I even think it’s gross if my husband does it on something I’m eating! No, never, ever, EVER double dip!
Break the chip or cracker into a smaller piece and then dip (if you don’t want to put the whole thing in your mouth at once).
Danielle says
No to double dipping! Maybe on my own portion but I do think twice.
Yes to putting out small portions of drips and drilling as needed.
Yes to putting a spoon and plates out so people will take their own portion.
😉
Danielle says
Oh dear…
Dips and refilling NOT drips and drilling. HELLO!
Torry says
See, I get wanting to have dip on the whole chip. That is why you take a plate and put your dip on it. Then you can go back to it as often as you want!
Fifitr says
It’s such a relief to find I’m not a completely crazy germophobe – or at least if I am I’m in good company. I completely avoid dipping unless I’m sharing with my husband (we kiss, so worrying about germ transfer from a dish of hummus seems irrelevant) and don’t often serve dips for this very reason. Thinking about it, as a kid I instinctively avoided sharing saliva. If someone wanted a lick of my ice cream or a bite of my apple I’d just give it to them, I certainly didn’t want it back when it had been around someone else’s tongue. Sharing a table, much less food, with small children is a trial for me as they seem to be allowed to finger everything these days. The concept of ‘if you handle it, you put it on your plate and eat it’ seems to be lost on a lot of parents.
Julia says
I once worked in a Mexican restaurant that wanted me to reuse left over chips and salsa. So gross beyond words. I refused and quit. No double dipping here. At home we each get our own bowl.
Mavis Butterfield says
Gag!!!!!
Linda says
Double dipping grosses me out. I think the polite way is to take some on your own plate and dip from that. We once had a guest that put sugar in his coffee and put the spoon back in the sugar- I about gagged. I threw the sugar away.
Cheri says
Although I think double-dipping is definitely NOT okay with groups of people, some of the strong reactions here perplex me. It’s as if some people think they are contaminating themselves with the plague or something if they dip a chip in a bowl in which someone has double-dipped. Unless that person actually HAS the plague, it is not THAT big of a deal. It is not worth going ballistic over. We humans consume a lot of germs and will continue to do so–even without double-dipping.
Susan says
The most nauseating thing about double-dipping is not so much the germs, but the saliva enzymes that pre-digest the food. Have you have ever seen the pre-digested, liquidy food the next day where a spoon was licked and put back? It’s truly gag-inducing. Blech! My HH and I dont even double-dip with each other, although we will eat off each other’s forks. Once we hosted a breakfast bagel bar and a guest bit into his bagel, took the knife and spread almond butter right where he bit the bagel and put the knife back into the nut butter. My normally mild-mannered HH was out and called him out. I was beyond mortified as I don’t like to embarrass people. I watch like a hawk but throw the double-dipped food away. Clearly this is a hot topic, teehee
Marcia says
my five year old is the WORST double dipper
Double dipping is gross.
If you want to do get, scoop out your own bowl/ plate of dip