I wish I could offer some level of assurance but that is disturbing. E. coli and C. meningosepticum are probably fecal in origin and were probably transferred to the soda (a nutrient rich solution) by employees who did not adequately wash their hands after using the bathroom.
I remember a study done a few years ago that found similar issues with theater seats, bottled water (on the surface of the bottles) and of course the bowls of candy ,nuts, pop corn etc at bars and offices and so on. Their explanation of the theater thing was people with poor hygiene wearing shorts and sitting in the seats. Basically the world is covered in crap.
Did anyone see the mythbusters where they tested something like this with toothbrushes. Even with keeping the toothbrush sealed and in the fridge, the fact of the matter is there are fecal bacteria all over the air. It's not all that surprising (to me) to know they found some in soda fountains. As TJames said, the world is full of crap.
I'll have a Dog meat burger combo with cheese and a 6 piece cartiladge pack with BBQ sauce. Oh..and a Diet feces coke.
Honestly fecal coliform is every where in the world. The fact of the matter is there are 7 billion people in this world and every single one of us produce it. Here is a pretty neat chart that puts somethings in perspective. They are reporting a maximum of 5cfu/100ml in the soda. I personally think we all need to calm down, in the end we are all full of crap. http://www.oasisdesign.net/water/quality/coliform.htm
I don't care. I'm still going to Taco Bell for dinner tonight. Nothing is going to stop me from enjoying tasty, cheap, possibly health compromising food!
They are reporting greater than 500 cfu (colony forming units)/ml. That is not insignificant, my friend.
colony... so that's where the word colon comes from... all this time, thought it came from colonel... btw, colony forming... we need to get this to the Moon and Mars stat!
Ouch! you're right. Absolutely my bad. I feel absolutely embarrassed doing that conversion backwards, I'm ashamed. Should fired from my job for that one. That puts the soda on scale of 50000cfu/100ml. Its like a flush of a river in Mexico after the dry season. That seems remarkably high in my mind. Almost too high to believe. Still no excuse for my backwards conversion. Nice catch Celt.
Especially significant when you consider: 1) 500 cfu/ml is TNTC 2) Not every bacteria plated will be able to form a colony What do you do for a living, brother?
I'm a chemist. Certainly not a biolgist. Pretty crappy I messed up a simple unit conversion though, and am rather ashamed. That's what I get for watching Lost and posting. I assume you are also in the sciences with your "TNTC."
It could be even worse. Something that I don't like about living here is the habit that people have of picking from bowls of pickled vegetables with their bare hands even though there might be tongs provided. It's especially common with felafel/shawarma stands. I refuse to patronize places that have toppings out in the open for everyone to grab.
Well honestly all food that you don't grow/make yourself is going to be disgusting no matter what. Even then you can think about all the bird feces, animal feces, etc. that you eat with that. I know a few people who work for a major chicken distributor (same name as a famous boxer) and you would not want to hear some of the things they can get away with lol. Same goes for an uncle I had who worked for a food company that makes several products. The thing is the food we eat is safe to eat but that doesn't mean because its safe that a disgusting amount of filth isn't seen as acceptable. Just eat your food and smile.
Nothing...I mean nothing will keep me from eating schawarma or falafel. It's just too good . But hopefully people don't try to sue restaurants for stuff like this. Who knows nowadays with billboards like "Who Can I Sue"?...
I understand telling yourself what you have to tell yourself in order to go on living normally; we all have to suspend disbelief a little or be overcome by paralysis. But what this study is highlighting is that those concentrations of deadly bugs like e-coli are far above levels considered to be harmful. To put it in perspective: Levels that high, found in a slaughterhouse would get it shut down, and put in motion a recall costing millions.
The quality you get here makes stuff in the US taste like it came out of a cardboard box. Even so, I walk by dozens of them without going in. There are a few places that set the toppings behind glass that only the servers can reach. That's where I go. There is one danger in that the servers use their bare hands to cut open the pitas, but I guess you can't get everything. It's also not only felafel. I also avoid most places that grill raw meat for sandwiches and burgers for the same reason. They grab the meat with their bare hands and then without washing, they grab the bread. I've had to ask them to wash their hands, and these are supposedly educated people, at least with high school credentials. One time, at an Asian place, I ordered a couple of egg rolls. The kitchen is visible and I couldn't believe what happened. There was a guy cleaning the floor, he grabbed the dirty, black rag to squeeze it out, and then took the egg rolls out of the oil. The s***head (strangely appropriate) then tried to grab them with his bare hands, not even using the tongs. I raised a stink and haven't been back there since.
