Do you wipe the top of canned drinks?

[Meghan54]

I'm just wondering.....how do all these cans get rat dung, dirt, etc. on their tops?

The cans of soda are either transported in boxes or shrink wrapped in flats......and are not exposed to rats, boots, etc.

 

[spidey07]

I'm just wondering.....how do all these cans get rat dung, dirt, etc. on their tops?

The cans of soda are either transported in boxes or shrink wrapped in flats......and are not exposed to rats, boots, etc.

You can't talk reason or common sense with germophobes, they're crazy to begin with.

 

[iGas]

yes

 

[Numenorean]

Wiping the top of a can before opening and drinking does not make you a germaphobe.

Yes it does.

Germaphobe.

 

[eplebnista]

Yes. I used to drink quite a lot of RC's growing up(they were much cheaper) and they always had a film of grayish grime on the tops, so it developed into a lifelong habit. The grayish grime wasn't limited to their canned products either, as their two liters were always the same way.

 

[5to1baby1in5]

Yes, I do wipe the top of canned drinks.

If you get infected with disease X in your body you are not instantly sick. There are just not enough of viruses todamage your whole body. Viruses, however, can multiply every so often, and eventually create enough viruses to make you sick. Your immune system then creates antibodies to kill the invading disease. After a while you recover.

If you are infected with just one virus, then it would take a long long time (if ever) to reproduce enough viruses to make you sick. Your body's immune system will detect the viruses, create antibodies, and attack the virus before there were enough of them to make you ill in the first place.

If you are infected with a large number of viruses all at once (someone sneezes in your face), then the virus has a large quantity to start with and can create enough viruses to make you ill before your immune system kicks in.

So, if you wipe and remove 95% of the rat turd dust you are decreasing size of the initial infection and giving your immune system a chance to fight off the infection before it takes over.

 

[alkemyst]

I'm just wondering.....how do all these cans get rat dung, dirt, etc. on their tops?

The cans of soda are either transported in boxes or shrink wrapped in flats......and are not exposed to rats, boots, etc.

Because they are unpacked and sit on shelves prior to and after stocking.

If you only buy soda from a warehouse store then they are probably still sealed when you get them.

At many gas stations and kwikee-marts they are usually visibly dirty around the lip.

 

[MentalIlness]

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.

 

[NetWareHead]

I'm just wondering.....how do all these cans get rat dung, dirt, etc. on their tops?

The cans of soda are either transported in boxes or shrink wrapped in flats......and are not exposed to rats, boots, etc.

6 packs in a open case like this one: http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/9467665/2/istockphoto_9467665-six-pack-of-beer.jpg I used to step or climb on with boots. That is my boot right on the drinking surface.

Even if the 6 packs or other food items are wrapped in plastic or cardboard, rats indiscriminately urinate and defecate anywhere. Urine will soak through cardboard. By the time the wrapped products gets to you, the urine has dried but it has still contaminated the outside of the can. Even shrink wrap is not "food grade" plastic and gets holes in it due to rough handling, stacking, shipping etc... After working in a warehouse and seeing vermin climbing all over anything and everything, drinking out of a can is like drinking out of a cup found in a trash can.

 

[Matthiasa]

Depends, if there is stuff visible on the can then all of it gets cleaned off. 😛

 

[SaDiZTiKStyLeZ]

yes

 

[coreyb]

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

same here.

 

[DrPizza]

If I'm not mistaken, haven't there been a few studies where they used black lights to find how much rat and mouse urine was present on cans, and pretty much concluded: NONE.

I had to google it. Yes, there have been studies. Mythbusters did one as well. And, they came up empty. Plus, "a professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeley explained that any dangerous viruses contained in rat urine would not survive on the exposed tops of aluminum cans." So, all you germophobes can relax.

 

[Ika]

I was literally popping the top to a Wild Cherry Pepsi can when I saw this topic.

And no, I don't. Plenty of other things to worry about.