WASHINGTON – Planning to double-dip at a Super Bowl party? Good idea. It isn’t like that second helping packs thousands of bacterial organisms or anything.

Except, it does. And that’s a conservative estimate.

While it might not be as bad as “putting your whole mouth right in the dip,” per the infamous “Seinfeld” episode, re-dipping your chip after taking a bite adds a tremendous amount of bacteria to the recipe.

In a Clemson University study, the number of bacterial organisms in a bowl of pure water increased from 10 to about 1,000 after adding a cracker that had a bite taken out of it, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

This scenario allows for the possibility of up to 100,000 organisms in a single bowl, the Journal reports.

Learn more about their analysis here:

For the sake of your fellow party goers, get a new chip when the dip still looks appealing. Hosts would do well to provide plates for guests to serve themselves a portion of dip and resist the temptation to contaminate the food.

The New York Times and Seattle Times have more to say on the subject.

Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)