I have a confession to make. Since my parents wanted me to retain some of my Korean heritage, they raised me with some of the Korean culture and values. Therefore, I have never before thought about the issue of double dipping. In fact, I had no idea what that was until someone blurted out “Yuck, that is so disgusting!” I was like, “What?!”
In many of the Asian cultures, eating out of the same bowl or stew pot is common. It is part of the communal experience. Therefore, I thought it was normal for people to share off the same bowl and also for people to dip their chip in the dip bowl and then dip it again.
But I realized very quickly that this was not going to be accepted by many people. Especially, after an episode of the hit sitcom Seinfeld made the whole double dipping popular.
Now with the wake of the Super Bowl Sunday before us, this topic of double dipping is back on the news. There will most likely be a dip bowl in the center with some chips. The question will be: “Does everyone know that double dipping spreads bacteria?” In a CNN article, it states that at Clemson University a study was done to measure the amount of bacteria a person is exposed to if they dip from the same bowl as someone who has double dipped. They found that, “three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from an eater’s mouth to the remaining dip sample.”
Dr. Dawson in the study said, “It’s like kissing everybody at the party – if you’re double dipping, you’re putting some of your bacteria in that dip.” Gre-at!
So as you are watching the Super Bowl and the dip bowl is going around, remember please just ONE dip at a time 🙂