The truth about double-dipping

dip the tip take a bite and dip again you may have seen have seen that person at a party and wondered what exactly they're exposing you to or maybe you are that person so how bad is double dipping this is minute food George and Timmy popularize the term double dipping and that Infamous Seinfeld episode but the act itself and some people's revulsion toward it isn't new back in the 16th century the Dutch scholar Erasmus warned that it is boorish to re-dip half eaten bread into the soup but is double dipping actually risky health-wise and if so how risky there is legitimate scientific research on this at least a little inspired by that very Seinfeld episode researchers investigated what happened when people double dipped Wheat Thins into three different dips salsa nacho cheese and chocolate syrup and they found that three to six double dips what they reasoned was a pretty standard double dipping session transferred an average of 10 000 bacteria to a dip the use of average is important here because five times more bacteria got transferred to the salsa than the chocolate or the cheese dip that difference is probably because salsa at least the one the research researchers used is pretty thin so it tends to drip off a chip after dipping carrying extra saliva and any bacteria in that saliva into the communal Bowl but salsa also had some protective power two hours post double dipping its bacterial count had dropped to the same level as the other two dips probably because all the acid it contains killed off some of the bacteria So Pro tip if you are looking to minimize the number of other people's mouth germs in your food stick to dips that are super thick super acidic or ideally both anyway this research shows the double dipping does transfer bacteria from a person's mouth into the dip but we can't exactly end our Intrepid investigation there because while this might suggest that double dipping is gross it doesn't prove that it's risky for that those germs still need to get into you and cause disease and that comes with a lot of unknowns first this particular study the only one out there on double dipping just lifted bacteria in general but a lot of the bacteria in saliva are perfectly fine even helpful so a sizable number of the mouth bacteria in a dip probably aren't a big deal the study also didn't look at all at viruses which are the vectors of a lot of the contagious diseases out there so we don't know how easily they are transferred from mouth to dip Plus in order to get a particular disease you need to pick up a large enough dose of The Germ that causes it this is what scientists call an infectious dose and it can range from just 10 or so disease-causing particles like in the case of norovirus to several thousand for a disease like MERS finally there's the matter of whether a certain kind of germ can even be transmitted by eating it some germs like herpes and the bacteria that causes cavities and gum disease just have to get into your mouth so they are problematic as far as double dipping but germs that need to reach deeper in the body to cause disease would need to endure all sorts of challenges in your digestive tract the highly competitive microbes already in there your acidic gastric juices the protective mucus lining your guts and the peristaltic action of your intestines pushing stuff to the exits some like hepatitis norovirus and influenza can survive this Gauntlet but scientists are less sure how feasible it is for others including a lot of the more common respiratory diseases they are way more likely to be transmitted via less formidable avenues like your eyes or nose so this second stage of the double dipping dilemma is much less clear-cut but based on the science it is at least possible that you could consume a large enough dose of a nasty bacteria or virus capable of causing disease via ingestion so yes there is some risk to double dipping however there's some risk of getting sick via basically anything you do around other people at the very same part where you're subjected to double dipping you may also be subjected to handshakes hugs kisses sneezes shared drinks singing blowing out birthday candles even beer pong all of which are capable of transmitting lots of germs I tried to get the experts I spoke with to rank these activities as far as riskiness and when that failed to use data from the scientific literature to rank them myself but just like with double dipping there are so many variables and so many unknowns the consensus though was that gobbling up some slobbery dip definitely isn't the biggest health risk you face around other people which when you take a wider view isn't all that surprising Americans along with some other westerners are actually relatively unique in our distaste for double dipping and other types of communal eating lots of people all around the world share food in ways that inevitably involve some spit swapping and this literal sharing of food is not only not a problem it's a critical part of how people connect with each other so I'm not saying you should go around double dipping at parties but I am saying that maybe you shouldn't worry that much about the George costanzas out there you asked for it and here it is a new tier for our patreon community as a Smart Cookie your name will appear in the description of every video WE Post while you're a patron at this level you'll also get access to other exclusive perks like gorgeous printables polls on our titles and thumbnails Early Access to our videos and all sorts of other Peaks into these strange and unique Minds that make minute Food Plus you'll get a warm fuzzy feeling for helping make our videos possible come join us as a smart cookie or any of our other tiers at patreon.com minutefood okay thanks [Music]

Channel: MinuteFood

Views: 364,570

Keywords: microbiology, bacteria, germs, party, dip, food safety, norovirus, covid, flu, herpes

Id: yrS6l8fM4qo

Length: 6min 22sec (382 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 15 2023