To clean or not to clean the soda can before drinking out of it… HMMM

If you drink from aluminum cans, do you clean the top before drinking out of them? We often do what we’re taught to do, without knowing whether these things make a discernible difference in our health. Now, with just “low-tech” petri dishes, we have an answer for whether we should:
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Not clean the can at all
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Use our shirt or clothing to clean it
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Use a paper towel or tissue to clean it
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Use 70% ethanol alcohol to clean it
These are the most common actions people for people drinking out of cans, so this video is very relevant…and SHOCKING. After performing each of the above actions on 4 different cans and swabbing and incubating the dishes, there were 4 clear results. Here are my takeaways.
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Uncleaned cans are GROSS–you are taking a big risk of ingesting fungus and bacteria by just chugging straight from an uncleaned can.
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Surprisingly, using your sweater or shirt to clean the can looks like it removes about two-thirds to three quarters of the fungus and bacteria. Not bad for a quick wipe…
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MOST SURPRISINGLY, a clean tissue removed ALL of the microbes, just like the alcohol. Who knew?!
Since cans are often consumed outside the home where it’s not common to have ethanol alcohol on hand, the sweater or a clean napkin are often used, and obviously to good effect. When you can, grab a clean napkin with your drink, wipe the top of the can and don’t reuse the napkin for food or anything else. It’s not difficult to do, and you might spare yourself from a nasty infection! DON’T use hand sanitizer on the top, though, because even though sanitizers are often made from alcohol, they are not approved to clean food service items (not meant to be ingested by mouth).
Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash