Risk of disease transmission from blowing out birthday cake candles

New research shows that blowing out birthday cake candles increases the amount of bacteria on the cake by 1,400%.

Blowing out candles on a birthday cake is a habit of many people. However, this action can lead to the risk of disease.

Photo: NYP.

"Some people blow out candles without transmitting any germs, but others can spread a lot of germs," ​​says Professor Paul Dawson from the University ofClemson University (USA)told The Atlantic. In his tests, blowing out candles could contaminate the cake's icing with 14 to 120 times more bacteria.

Of course, the above risk is not too worrying because most bacteria in the mouth are not harmful to health. "For me, the risk of getting sick from birthday cake is very small," Professor Dawson said. However, he said that it is still important to pay attention and it is best not to eat the cake if the person blowing out the candles is a stranger or shows signs of illness.

According to VNE