Do you always ask for a slice of lemon with your drink?
Then you need to read this.
Researchers in America tested lemon slices in drinks and found some surprising results.
They swabbed lemon slices that were put into their drinks at 21 different restaurants, for a study published in the Journal of Environmental Health.
The results found that almost 70% of those samples produced some kind of microbial growth - and included 25 different microbial species.
The researchers concluded: “The microbes found on the lemon samples in our investigation all have the potential to cause infectious diseases at various body sites, although the likelihood was not determined in this study.
“Restaurant patrons should be aware that lemon slices added to beverages may include potentially pathogenic microbes.”
The only way to really dodge lemon germs—other than not ordering them at all—according to Philip Tierno author of The Secret Life of Germs is for them to be in a really stiff drink, because straight alcohol is a very hostile environment for bacteria.
By Martin Crummy
