Do you wipe the top of canned drinks?

[JulesMaximus]

If it looks dirty, then yeah. If it looks clean, no.

Between homicidal motor vehicle operators, overzealous airport security crews, zombie apocalypses, roving bands of bloodthirsty chinchillas, and Mayan doomsday predictions, a dirty soda can is the least of my worries.

Yet it's the only one on your list you can actually do something about...

 

[rcpratt]

I don't really think about it, but I think I kind of just rub my thumb over the tab thing to clean it off. Like that's really doing anything.

I think that started when I heard some story about fish eggs being on can lids several years ago.

I really don't drink out of cans very often nowadays, though.

 

[zinfamous]

What's funny about your taste comment is that with soft drinks, I've always thought that it tasted best out of a can. With beer, I always buy the bottles. I think beer tastes like shit when it's in a can.

I guess a soft drink out of a glass bottle would be best. I can't even remember the last time I had a coke from a glass bottle.

cans are actually the best way to preserve taste and freshness in beer. pour it into a glass if the can taste bother you, though. Some companies make excellent beer that they distribute only in cans, like Oscar Blues:

and Maui something or other. other breweries, like New Belgium, have started distributing more and more in cans.

 

[moshquerade]

i just blow it off so the large particles fly away.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

haha, so true.



I've lost the habit of wiping the top of the can, but I don't really drink soda anymore, which is probably 95% of my my can consumption.

Everyone is talking about sodas but, I wonder how many wipe the top of food cans. I do even if they're the easy open kind. Guess it's an ingrained habit from being a Chef.

 

[dpodblood]

I think that started when I heard some story about fish eggs being on can lids several years ago.

Wow that sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen...

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

i shotgun all my beers so no.

 

[CRXican]

if I remember to, sometimes I'll just blow the dust off if there is any

 

[BurnItDwn]

Ehh ... don't really drink many canned drinks other than beer, and most likely the alcohol in the beer would kill anything on the top anyhow when I drink it...

 

[bignateyk]

Wiping the can with your shirt is going to do nothing to sanitize it. So unless you carry sanitizing wipes with you everywhere and use those to wipe your can lids, you're really just wasting your time wiping it with your shirt.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

absolutely. cans get all sorts of dirt and dust on top as well as diesel exhaust from the truck they were transported in

 

[Brainonska511]

Wiping the can with your shirt is going to do nothing to sanitize it. So unless you carry sanitizing wipes with you everywhere and use those to wipe your can lids, you're really just wasting your time wiping it with your shirt.

You could always rinse the top off with a sink.

 

[moshquerade]

You could always rinse the top off with a sink.

put a little soap on there too, swirl and then rinse.

 

[bignateyk]

You could always rinse the top off with a sink.

That won't do anything either unless there's soap on it.

Usually when I see people wipe the can it is after it comes out of the vending machine or something where they don't have access to a sink. I always want to make a comment about them being a germophobe and inform them that wiping the can doesn't actually do anything to kill germs, but I never do.

 

[pontifex]

so the next question is how do you clean it off?

i see people wiping the top with their shirts all the time. like that's going to do any good.
i bet the people saying why wouldn't you? don't really clean it so that it matters...

 

[NetWareHead]

Wow this thread makes me want to stop drinking out of cans unless I have a sink and soap...

 

[Imp]

No.

My uncle use to do it when we had dinner at his house. He used the most disgusting rag ever to wipe them, and smeared a year's worth of germs onto the can. It made it disgusting to drink too because the rag carried a nice, powerful smell.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Wow this thread makes me want to stop drinking out of cans unless I have a sink and soap...

Have you gotten suck form it? If not, meh.

I have enough trust in my immune system, and you should trust yours considering it got you that far.

Then again, Germs are the last thing I'm worried about.

 

[coldmeat]

No, I don't clean anything before doing anything.

 

[feralkid]

Have you gotten suck form it? If not, meh.

I have enough trust in my immune system, and you should trust yours considering it got you that far.

Then again, Germs are the last thing I'm worried about.

Please don't ever work in Health Care or Food Service.

 

[lxskllr]

Everyone is talking about sodas but, I wonder how many wipe the top of food cans. I do even if they're the easy open kind. Guess it's an ingrained habit from being a Chef.

I wipe the top of any can if it has loose or heavy dirt, but otherwise, I don't bother. I prefer expired food if it's discounted, but I generally buy within date, and for things like milk, I take the furthest date from present.

 

[nageov3t]

I can't think of any canned beverages that I drink.

I haven't had soda in over 3 years.

 

[coloumb]

I use to not - but once I saw someone else wipe the top - I always do. If there is a sanitary faucet nearby, I'll wash the top off as well. And I do check the expiration dates [not sure when they started putting those on cans].

However, I rarely ever drink "soda pop" - maybe once or twice per year.

 

[xanis]

Never done it.

 

[NetWareHead]

Have you gotten suck form it? If not, meh.

I have enough trust in my immune system, and you should trust yours considering it got you that far.

Then again, Germs are the last thing I'm worried about.

You know what they say about playing with fire right? Besides, nothing wrong with taking precautions especially when its an easy precaution.