In news set to cause you to back/run away from every birthday cake in sight, scientists have discovered that that slice of raspberry cheesecake you ate to celebrate your aunt’s birthday is probably coated in germs.
^^Nope. Just… nope.
After conducting countless studies around food safety, researchers at Clemson University have confirmed that blowing out candles on a birthday cake can actually increase the amount of bacteria on the frosting tenfold.
Interestingly, according to The Atlantic, who dug a little deeper on the topic, the amount of bacteria that’s passed on to the cake, in fact, differs from person to person – meaning that it is generally impossible to predict how many germs one candle-blower will blow on to their own cake.
“Some people blow on the cake and they don’t transfer any bacteria. Whereas you have one or two people who really for whatever reason … transfer a lot of bacteria,” explains Professor of Food Safety at Clemson University Paul Dawson.
However, before you vow against eating even the most delicious, retro Australian Women’s Weekly kids’ birthday cakes, Professor Dawson says that despite this alarming find, the likelihood of you falling ill from this birthday-cake bacteria is slim.
“In reality if you did this 100,000 times, then the chance of getting sick would probably be very minimal,” he tells The Atlantic, suggesting that perhaps only really avoiding eating the cake if said-candle-blower is clearly unwell.
What do you make of this new research: will it stop you from going for that second slice of that celebratory birthday pavlova? Tell us by commenting on our Facebook page .
