It's soda poop, not soda pop

Yet another reason to avoid fast food establishments. A study published in the January 2010 edition of International Journal of Food Microbiology found a nearly 50% contamination rate for soda fountain beverages in a 22 mile study area of Virginia [1]. Nearly half of the 90 beverages tested positive for coliform bacteria -- which could indicate possible fecal contamination. Also found were antibiotic-resistant microbes and E.coli.

90 beverages of three types, (sugar soda, diet soda, water) from 30 fast food restaurants were sampled, both from both self-service and employee-dispensed machines. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's drinking-water regulations require that all samples test negative for E.coli. Many of the soda beverages from the dispensers fell below U.S. drinking-water standards.

While there were no reported outbreaks of food-borne illness identified in the area at the time of the study, the authors of the study wrote that, "The large number of beverages and soda fountain machines containing E. coli is still of considerable concern... and suggests that more pathogenic strains of bacteria could persist and thrive in soda fountain machines if introduced."

They found that 48 percent of beverages obtained from soda fountains contained coliform bacteria, 11 percent contained E. coli (which are mostly harmless, but some can cause diarrhea, urinary tract infections, respiratory illness and pneumonia), and 17 percent had Chryseobacterium meningosepticum (which could sicken newborns or adults with weakened immune systems).

The researchers are uncertain how the bacteria got inside the beverage machines.
"It could be from dispensing with a hand that wasn't clean or using wet rags to wipe down the machine," one said. "We haven't done the work to really identify those potential sources and how these bacteria get established." [1]

Comments on the story reported by CNN include former fast food workers who reveal that the soda machines are rarely cleaned as suggested by manufacturers.

Maybe carrying your own bottle of water is better?