january 11th LAST POST :(

liiiiiiiiink

This article was very interesting. It claims that soda fountains, particularly self-serve ones, could be harboring fecal bacteria, which can cause gastrointestinal diseases. Scientists did a study in a Virginia town, with 48% of the total beverages tested having coliform bacteria in them, but only 20% of that actually exceeded the limit. They think the bacteria gets in the tubing when so many people touch the dispenser daily. Workers may clean the nozzle and exterior frequently, but very seldomly does the tubing get a clean sweep.


This article falls into the category of magnitude. Millions of people eat at fast food restaurants every day, and many of those people order soft drinks. This bacteria issue could become a huge problem if an illness becomes widespread. This really could relate to anyone, with the large amount of people that drink fountain pop. It could potentially affect millions of people. So far, the bacteria hasn't caused any known sickness, but its very possible.

I'm surprised this hasn't become an issue until just now. Fast food restaurants have been especially popular in the last 15 years, and I'm sure bacteria has been existent in our soft drinks the whole time. Obviously it hasn't been a big issue, or we would have heard about it before. That, or people are just becoming more and more unsanitary, causing more bacteria to harbor in the tubing of the soda fountains. Either way, as of right now I don't see this as a big issue, although it could become one.