As regular viewers of Channel 4’s Food Unwrapped will already know, sharing chips and dips can be rather more personal than you might imagine; so much so that sharing them may potentially have you reaching for your nearest tube of cold sore cream.
This revelation follows an investigation by the programme which revealed that the cold sore virus as well as the pathogens for other common ailments, including streptococcus and norovirus, can harbour in party dips and sauces.
In practice this means that if a carrier of any of these viruses or bacterias engages in the socially dubious practice of “double dipping” their crisps, crackers or cruditees, he or she could contaminate the food and cause illnesses to be passed on to other attendees.
While speaking on a recent episode of Food Unwrapped, microbiologists on the Channel 4 series explained that as many as tens of thousands of organisms can dwell in even the tiniest speck of saliva. Furthermore, they explained, once these contaminate a dip or sauce, they can quickly multiply, potentially infecting all the guests at a gathering.
The situation is made worse by the fact that dips and sauces are left opened and unrefrigerated at most parties and events and that these two things promote even faster growth of bacteria and other pathogens.
Microbiologists tested three of the UK’s favourite dips - hummus, taramasalata and sour cream - and found that the thinner a dip or sauce is the more favourable an environment it provides for the pathogens to reproduce. This means that sour cream, which traditionally has a runnier consistency than the other dips, may be the most potentially hazardous. Within two hours of the sour cream being contaminated, there was more than 100 times the amount of bacteria than in an uncontaminated sour cream comparison sample. The contaminated taramasalata had 50 times more bacteria than the uncontaminated comparison sample.
The hummus was less bacteria prone; probably because it has a higher level of viscosity.
The take home? If you are using cold sore cream to treat a cold sore, don’t double dip. Conversely if you don’t have a cold sore and see a cold sore cream user double dipping at a party, you may be better off nipping out to the nearest deli so that you can provide your own snacks.
