Blowing out the candles on a birthday cake is a much-loved tradition, but you might want to reconsider this custom as researchers found that it can increase the amount of bacteria on the cake by an alarming 1,400 percent.
A study published in the Journal of Food Research explored the idea that blowing on a cake might actually spread germs from a person's mouth straight onto the cake’s icing, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
To prove this, the team of researchers from Clemson University in South Carolina spread a layer of icing onto foil and placed birthday candles on top. To stimulate saliva, they asked participants to eat a slice of pizza, and then 'extinguish the candles by blowing.'
The frosting was then diluted with sterilised water and spread out on agar plates to allow the bacteria to grow. After testing, the team found that, on average, blowing out the candles on the 'cake' resulted in 14 times more bacteria on the frosting, compared with the frosting that was not blown on. In one case, it increased the amount of bacteria by more than 120 times.
'Some people blow on the cake and they don’t transfer any bacteria,' study co-author Paul Dawson explained to The Atlantic. 'Whereas you have one or two people who really for whatever reason ... transfer a lot of bacteria.'
However, while the researchers have concluded that the transfer of oral bacteria onto the cake candles is 'likely,' the results shouldn't put you off from reaching for a slice.
'It’s not a big health concern in my perspective,' Dawson added. 'In reality if you did this 100,000 times, then the chance of getting sick would probably be very minimal.' Although, he did add that that you might want to avoid eating the cake if the candle-blower is obviously unwell.
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