Do you always go for the healthy options at parties and buffets, like fondues and raw vegetable (crudite) dips?

Raw vegetables and salads with dip

Think again, they may not be so healthy after all.

Shared dips and fondue type dishes are said to be swarming with other people’s germs. A research study shows that when the same crudite or dipper is used more than once, tens of thousands of bacteria are transferred from the mouth to the dip for each double-dip.

We can overdo the hygiene sometimes, and a certain exposure to external germs are said to be good for the immune system.

However, if your immune system is compromised in any way, or there’s a particularly nasty ‘flu bug around, avoid dips like the plague.