{"id":8365,"date":"2023-10-26T03:55:07","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T20:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8365"},"modified":"2023-10-26T03:55:07","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T20:55:07","slug":"blowing-out-candles-how-germy-is-it-exactly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=8365","title":{"rendered":"Blowing Out Candles: How Germy Is It, Exactly?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"drop-cap text-big text-gray\"> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">B<\/span>irthdays and birthday parties are joyous times to celebrate with loved ones, especially when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/birthday-cake-protein-balls\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/birthday-cake-protein-balls\/\">delicious cake<\/a> is involved. That is, unless the thought of accepting a slice with remnants of saliva from the candle blowout makes you lose your appetite completely. (For those who have never questioned the yumminess and safety of eating birthday cake but just felt a bit squeamish upon reading that, I apologize.)<\/div>\n<p>Sure, this may sound kinda gross when you visualize it\u2026 but is it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/five-second-rule\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/five-second-rule\/\">actually <em>that<\/em> bad<\/a>? Keep reading to see just how icky and even risky eating a post-blowout slice of birthday cake can be\u2014as well as how much spit and bacteria are typically transmitted.<\/p>\n<h2>So\u2026 how much spit can you expect on a birthday cake?<\/h2>\n<p>According to Trevor Craig, a food safety expert and the corporate director of technical training and consulting at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.microbac.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.microbac.com\/\">Microbac Laboratories<\/a>, the exact amount of spit transferred as someone blows out candles will vary. Contributing factors can range from what the person recently ate or drank, the force of the exhalation, how they\u2019re feeling, or simply having more active salivary glands.<\/p>\n<p>Simply put, Craig says that the question is hard to answer with a precise numerical value. \u201cUntil recently, there weren\u2019t a lot of studies on this or how your spit gets aerosolized when talking,\u201d he shares. Nonetheless, \u201cThe formation of thin layers of fluids in the lungs, upper airways, and saliva in the mouth are all broken and expelled when you talk or blow air out of your mouth. Either way, it\u2019s a lot more aerosolized liquid coming out of you than you think.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe formation of thin layers of fluids in the lungs, upper airways, and saliva in the mouth are all broken and expelled when you talk or blow air out of your mouth. Either way, it\u2019s a lot more aerosolized liquid coming out of you than you think.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>Spit aside, how bad is the transmission of bacteria when blowing out birthday candles?<\/h2>\n<p>When candles are blown out, spit is inevitably transferred\u2026 but also bacteria. \u201cThere are studies that show media plates designed for growth of bacteria exposed to someone talking and a control, and the change in bacterial growth is astounding,\u201d Craig shares. \u201cThey have done the same with food items, and it&#8217;s hundreds of percentages higher after someone blows on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/blowing-out-candles-bacteria\/\" current-title=\"How Much Do You Spit on the Cake When You Blow Out Birthday Candles? (Hint: A Lot, Says a Food Safety Expert)\" current-image=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Stocksy_txp3ed3e442E6m300_Small_3763828-425x285_418x278_true_70.webp\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2023-04-25\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/blowing-out-candles-bacteria\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/blowing-out-candles-bacteria\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/blowing-out-candles-bacteria\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Researchers have even tested the potential spread of bacteria from blowing out birthday candles. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ccsenet.org\/journal\/index.php\/jfr\/article\/view\/67217\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ccsenet.org\/journal\/index.php\/jfr\/article\/view\/67217\">2017 study<\/a>, researchers spread icing on a sheet of foil, which was layered over a styrofoam base, before placing birthday candles on top. Lucky participants ate some pizza (it was a birthday simulation, after all), then proceeded to blow out candles. The result? The amount of bacteria measured was <em>1,400 percent<\/em> higher than the control sheet of icing sans candle blowout.<\/p>\n<p>In all sincerity, I\u2019d hate to be the person to deliver info that will never let you look at a slice of birthday cake the same way again. Yes, all this talk about spit loads and bacteria transfers sounds far from appetizing. But before you panic and swear off birthday cake forever, Craig advises that we all take a step back to put things into perspective. \u201cOur bodies are full of bacteria and our mouth has a lot of it in there, but not all bacteria is going to make you sick,\u201d he explains. \u201cIn fact, we have a lot of good bacteria in our bodies that are important to how we live and survive.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>With that, he gives us the green light to <em>avoid<\/em> thinking about it too hard. We\u2019re talking about cake after all; not even a food safety expert is about to get in your way of enjoying it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>For reference, we can still transmit bacteria each and every day from simply talking. If you\u2019re booed up, kissing will inevitably yield the same effect. But it\u2019s not like you\u2019ll automatically start to fear talking or kissing because of this, right? \u201cIt\u2019s all gross if you think about it too hard,\u201d Craig notes. With that, he gives us the green light to <em>avoid<\/em> thinking about it too hard. We\u2019re talking about cake after all; not even a food safety expert is about to get in your way of enjoying it.<\/p>\n<h2>The takeaway<\/h2>\n<p>Unless the person blowing out birthday candles is under the weather or \u201cspittier\u201d than average, both the ick and risk factors are pretty minimal on the cake front. If you\u2019re the one who\u2019s celebrating\u2014or perhaps your child is\u2014you can also arrange to have one mini birthday cake or cupcake to blow out candles to your heart\u2019s content, while keeping another spit-free cake on hand for everyone else.<\/p>\n<p>All things considered, Craig says the whole scenario doesn\u2019t concern him\u2014and the same should largely go for the rest of us. \u201cIt\u2019s not terribly high risk in most cases,\u201d he confirms. \u201cHowever, I did think about it more during the height of COVID or during flu outbreaks, [and] when I\u2019m trying to avoid getting sick during vacation or when I\u2019m around immunocompromised people.\u201d You may also want to think twice under similar circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, while a post-blowout birthday cake at the actual gathering gets his A-okay, leftovers could harbor even more bacteria over time. \u201cThat bacteria will just keep growing and populating on that cake; that makes the risk on it higher and most likely shortens the cake\u2019s shelf life,\u201d Craig explains. While this risk increases, it\u2019s still pretty low, but you can always err on the side of caution if it\u2019ll make you stress less. Craig hints that it\u2019s safer to accept that second slice of cake at the party instead of taking it home\u2014so heed the food safety expert\u2019s advice and allow yourself to dig back in.<\/p>\n<div class=\"block-thin post-citations mt-[40px] mb-[30px]\" data-module-init=\"main-2020\/post-citations\" data-module-immediate=\"true\">\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mb-[24px]\"\/>\n<div class=\"post-citations-content flex flex-col gap-[24px]\">\n<p>Well+Good articles reference scientific, reliable, recent, robust studies to back up the information we share. You can trust us along your wellness journey.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<hr class=\"!border-seafoam-dark mt-[24px]\"\/>\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Birthdays and birthday parties are joyous times to celebrate with loved ones, especially when delicious cake is involved. That is, unless the thought of accepting a slice with remnants of saliva from the candle blowout makes you lose your appetite completely. (For those who have never questioned the yumminess and safety of eating birthday cake &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8366,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8365\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}