Soda Can Germs: Investigation Finds Surprising Bacteria

We hear a lot about the health risks of drinking soda, but what about the cans themselves?

A CBS TV station tested soda cans bought at a variety of common locations and found stenotrophomonas maltophilia, pseudomonas luteola and enterobacter cloacae, on the tops of soda cans.

Connie Cutler, Director of Infection Prevention for Main Line Health, told CBSPhilly that these kinds of germs are usually only a danger to people with compromised immune systems.

So it looks like it’s a good idea to wash that can before you drink, but most people should be OK if they don’t.

In case these long scientific names don’t mean much to you. Here’s the the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health say about them:

• Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: “Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an emerging multidrug-resistant global opportunistic pathogen.”
• Pseudomonas luteola: “Chryseomonas luteola has only rarely been reported as a human bacterial pathogen.”
• Enterobacter cloacae: “Enterobacter cloacae is not a primary human pathogen but has been considered to be an important cause of nosocomial infections.”