Fountain Drinks Could be More Expensive to Your Health Than You Think March 16
Improper cleaning and care of fountain drink machines could lead to infection from fecal bacteria contaminants. This discovery and its subsequent warning comes from a study of 30 machines in the Roanoke Valley in Virginia, nearly half of which were contaminated with coliform ba
cteria (a group of bacteria in drinking water banned by the EPA because it means that there is a possibility of fecal contamination.).
“The EPA regulates our drinking supply, and there can be some bacteria but one of the things that is not allowed is coliform bacteria,” said Renee D. Godard, professor of biology at Hollins University and a co-author of the paper published in the January print issue of the International Journal of Food Microbiology. “We can’t have that in our drinking supply. But they’re coming out of these soda fountain machines.”
The soda machines had traces of E. coli, species of Klebsiella, Staphylococcus, Stenotrophomonas, Candida, and Serratia and most of these bacteria were resistant to the 11 antibiotics Godard tested on her samples.
“About 70 percent of the beverages had bacteria and 48 percent of them had coliform bacteria,” said Godard.
Thankfully only 20 % of the sodas sampled had coliform bacteria that exceeded the EPA limit for drinking water. Ice and tap water samples didn’t have traces of the contaminant ruling out a localized water contamination . A range of soft drink brands and types (sugared, diet or even water) were contaminated, leading Godard to think that it wasn’t the soda, but the machine that was growing bacteria.
The source of the contamination however, remains less certain. Employees clean the nozzles daily and few of the patrons who were watched at the locations touched the nozzles. It was found that the tubing inside the machine was not regularly cleaned as the outer nozzles were as a result a single contamination could lead to bacterial growth.
“Our best guess is they’re actually establishing themselves on the lining of the plastic tubing. The reason we say that is in other areas, such as hospitals, it is known that bacteria can establish themselves on plastic tubing for machines,” said Godard.
In any case Godard hopes that the study will lead to more consistent cleaning of the inner and outer tubing of these machines.
Tags: bacterua, contamination, fecal matter, soda fountain, soft drunks
Frida D Cratic Mar 24
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