09 October 2023 , 15:29
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Scientists have discovered an 'overlooked' problem of bacteria in fast-food soda fountains.
A recent study in Southern California found fountains fast-food restaurants also contained high levels of the bugs in self-serve drinks.
They found found levels of bacteria were more than US Environmental Protection Agency regulations among fast-food restaurants in the eastern Coachella Valley.
Researchers from Loma Linda University found consumers were mainly low-income, Latino farmworker families who struggled to obtain water without high bacteria levels.
Communities, just two hours from Los Angeles, experienced the problem after officials sampled water in outlets and discovered E. coli, salmonella and Pseudomonas aeruginos which can lead to severe illness.
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Dangerous bacteria was found in soda fountains at fast-food outlets (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)The study published in the Drinking Water journal found more than 40% of water samples had contamination indicators.
The sanitation and maintenance of water from soda fountains, was called into question after the study which looked at a small area.
Thomas Hile, a researcher with Loma Linda and the lead author of the study, told USA Today: “We cannot say that soda fountain contamination is only in the eastern Coachella Valley. It’s a general problem that I believe is kind of overlooked.”
Self-serve drinks also contained high levels of bacteria (Getty Images)Researchers were not the first to discover the problem and had investigated the public health risk of soda fountains in fast-food locations over a decade earlier and found similar discoveries.
The restaurant industry says it is following required standards and health officials would not say if standards should be revised to curb the spread of disease at soda fountains.
Hile and Ryan Sinclair, an associate professor of environmental microbiology at Loma Linda were collecting samples of tap water at the Oasis Mobile Home Park after the water was found to be contaminated.
The scientists visited a fast-food outlet and Sinclair questioned the cleanliness of soda fountains and restaurant soda outlets which could be infected.
Researchers collected over 70 water samples from soda fountains, vending machines and taps and found traces of salmonella, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and E. coli, in water supply sources. the bacteria particularly Pseudomonas and E. coli O157:H7 can cause severe health and and respiratory illnesses, hepatitis and even death.
Researchers collected over 70 water samples from soda fountains, vending machines and taps (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)Joan Rose, a microbiologist and chair in Water Research at Michigan State University, said: “It’s a concern that they found these pathogensIt’s clearly an indicator that we need to do more investigations like this. We just don’t know how big the threat is.”
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Ten years ago researchers from Hollins University found microbial contamination in soda fountains in a one-year study in Virginia. Their article in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, pointed to lack of regulation of soda fountain tubing and poor inspections of the beverage delivery systems.