Since I’ve been home this summer, I’ve gone to several graduation parties and summer barbeques, and I always seemed to run into the same “enemy” at each of them: the dip bowl, and sometimes more than one of them. Chips and dip and veggie trays are always a popular and easy snack for these events and I love to partake in them.  But I’m always weary of those “double dippers” out there, especially at parties where I don’t know half of the people. My mom taught me at a very young age all about germs from sharing food and drinks. She always said if someone took a drink out of my glass or container, I should stop drinking out of it completely. I don’t think my mom ever thought I’d become such a “germaphobe,” but that’s me!  And so, “double dippers” are high on my list of people to avoid!

But it’s not like double dipping is an abnormal fear. And that’s why I decided to write this post, as a sort of warning and a plead to “Save the Dip,” and your health for that matter. Did you know that it only takes three to six “double dips” for a dip to be exposed to bacteria? 

“But wait,” you say, “I don’t double dip – I flip.”

Some people think that the “flipping” technique combats the evils of double dipping, but unfortunately the opposite is true. Say you have a carrot, and you dip it in the ranch dip, take a bite, and then flip it around and dip the unbitten end. Seems harmless right? (I even thought so!) This can actually be more harmful to your health because now the dip is exposed to the bacteria from your hands, which is worse than bacteria from our mouths.

So here are some basic suggestions most health experts would tell you when it comes to avoiding double dipping as much as possible. You can buy bite sized, or “one bite” foods so that the party goers will only need to dip the snack once. Or you can put a spoon in the dip bowl to encourage your guests to put a desired amount of dip on their own plate (I know if I see a spoon in the dip I always use that technique). It’s not a cure all for the double dipping conundrum. There are just some people out there who were born double dippers!  But it’ll help squelch the problem somewhat and safe guard your health.       

Let’s work together to “Save the Dip”, and enjoy the parties!

Note from Coach Stacy:

According to food safety experts, it’s unsafe to leave dips and such out for more than two hours, otherwise bacteria will take hold.  So, when preparing your dip, mix it in two separate containers.  Leave one in the refrigerator and after a couple of hours, ditch the dip that’s been out and replace it with the one cooling in the frig.