Blowing out birthday candles increases bacteria on cake — by a lot
Those colorful candles burning brightly atop a birthday cake may look lovely, but apparently blowing them out has some pretty disgusting side effects, researchers say.
A study in the Journal of Food Research determined that blowing out candles over that sweet icing surface resulted in 1,400% more bacteria compared to icing spared the puff. The study was titled “Bacterial Transfer Associated with Blowing Out Candles on a Birthday Cake,” so you don’t have to read far to get the idea. But testing involved eating pizza, so the authors aren’t total party poopers. “Preliminary tests of blowing on nutrient agar indicated that bioaerosols in human breath expelled from the mouth may be a source of bacteria transferred to cake surfaces,” … Continue Reading