It depends what you consider "bad", but according to a new study, a bowl of dip where someone's double dipped is filled with more bacteria than the average floor.

I'm 100% guilty of the double-dip. I've never really seen an issue with it, but I also eat stuff off the floor. I guess I'm just not a germophobe, but maybe I will change my ways after reading this story by ABC Radio Perth on the dangers of double-dipping.

Ok, maybe it's not "dangerous", but it's definitely a little risky once you realize the amount of germs hiding in your double-dipped dish of ranch dressing.

During food scientist Paul Dawson's study he dipped a cracker in chocolate dip, cheese dip and salsa.

"I expected there to be not really much bacteria transfer because of the small surface area on a cracker or chip when you bite it. But we actually found there was 1,000 more bacteria per millilitre in the dip from when you bit the chip than when you didn't. That's a significant amount ... that's more like a person-to-person transfer like the common cold and other contagious diseases rather than the typical food-borne illness like E.coli and salmonella."

-- Paul Dawson

The study found that there's actually less bacteria transferred to your food if you abide by the "5 second rule" when you drop it on the floor. Oh, and speaking of the 5 second rule, your food will pick up less germs on the carpet than wood or tile floors because carpet absorbs a lot of bacteria.

So, what did we learn today? Double-dipping is pretty dirty, and in most cases floors are cleaner than our mouths.

Does it mean you shouldn't double-dip? If it's your thing by all means keep on doing the double-dip, but at least now you know what you're getting into so you can dip smarter. Ya know, like only double-dip if you comfortable with the other double-dippers around you. And as a general rule of thumb always ask the group if it's ok to double-dip before you go for it.

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