Blowing Candles on Birthdays Transfers Bacteria Over the Cake, Researchers Say

Blowing candles on the birthday cake is one of the traditions which remained constant over the years. However, it seems this habit is not so hygienic, as blowing air above the candles and the cake is not among the cleanest things in the world. A recent study discovered how blowing candles could spread bacteria and increase it by 1,400 percent.

How hygienic is blowing candles on a birthday cake?

Regardless of how much we enjoy blowing colorful pieces of wax spread all over our birthday treats, scientists suspected this tradition was way more unhygienic than it seemed. Therefore, they decided to simulate a party environment and see what happens when one blew his birthday candles.

They took a round piece of foil, covered it in frosting, and then put candles on top of it. Then, they took several people who had eaten pizza before and had them blow these candles. In the end, they compared the frosting on the candle-covered cakes with some other frostings on different cakes, which had no candles on them.

Researchers assure as this habit poses no health concerns

The frosting on the cakes with candles had way more bacteria than the other cakes. Also, these types of bacteria were more varied than those present on the plain cakes. However, there’s no need to worry, as researchers have some good news as well.

This tradition of blowing candles on birthday cakes is many centuries old. In fact, it might even date back to Ancient Greece, meaning that people have been eating cake after someone blew the candles on top of it and nothing bad happened.

There is no evidence of people getting sick from these bacteria, and researchers say it’s not such a big health concern. Some people might transfer a lot of bacteria while blowing, and others might not transfer any. All the details of this study have been collected in a paper published in the Journal of Food Research.
Image Source: Good Free Photos