# Drinking out of cans **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 4, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578 "2011-10-04T17:21:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/1 "2011-10-04T17:21:03Z")
It occurs to me that this has to be one of the most unsanitary things ever. Yeah I do it, and yeah, I half-heartedly wipe the lip of the can before drinking out of it, but…really? We scrub fruits and vegetables, use sanitizer all day long, but there doesn’t seem to be much concern over WHERE THAT CAN HAS BEEN! Is it because aluminum doesn’t hold germs or what? Always wondered about the pathology of can germs. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/2 "2011-10-04T17:29:36Z")
People worry about the wrong things with regard to viruses. It’s not like someone put the can to his mucusy lips and then put it back in the cooler at the 7-Eleven. However, the soft drinks distributed by San Pellegrino (Aranciata and Limonata) come with a little foil covering to peel off. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/3 "2011-10-04T17:36:41Z")
When you tap on the top you scare all the germs away. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/4 "2011-10-04T17:44:51Z")
I have to admit I almost never wash fruits or veggies. Yeah other people have probably handled them… shrug. I don’t use that hand sanitizer either, I just wash my hands once in a while. I wonder what the shelf life is on common germs and cooties that are exposed to the air. When I become older and/or infirm, I’ll probably be more careful about such things. I don’t wash the aluminum can top unless it’s visibly crud-ridden. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/5 "2011-10-04T17:47:17Z")
Scrub fruits and vegetables? Hand sanitizer? And here I am using my immune system like a sucker! ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/6 "2011-10-04T17:47:33Z")
Danger! Be wary of [rat urine](http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/raturine.asp)! ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/7 "2011-10-04T17:51:43Z")
I’m pretty much with **Patty O’Furniture** , except for the part about washing vegetables. 🙂 I go through most days without thinking of germs at all. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/8 "2011-10-04T17:52:59Z")
> [@Crotalus](#): > > I’m pretty much with **Patty O’Furniture** , except for the part about washing vegetables. 🙂 I go through most days without thinking of germs at all. Weee there are 3 of us. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/9 "2011-10-04T17:55:08Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > I have to admit I almost never wash fruits or veggies. Yeah other people have probably handled them… shrug. My wife cringes when she sees me grab an apple and chomp. Sometimes the sticker is still on it. She then grabs the remaining apples and scrubs them, telling me that the last apple squeezer might have picked their nose or scratched their backside or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/10 "2011-10-04T17:57:52Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > We scrub fruits and vegetables, use sanitizer all day long… No, we don’t. I eat street vendor food. I pick berries in the wild and eat them. I drink straight from the hose. Guess I’m just a risk taker. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/11 "2011-10-04T17:58:51Z")
I sprinkle anthrax on my vegetables. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/12 "2011-10-04T18:01:38Z")
As the spouse is wont to say, “I have a functioning immune system.” I don’t take unnecessary chances, but I’ve never given a can a second thought. I don’t even wipe them off. I’ve been doing it for years and I’m still here, so I must be okay. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/13 "2011-10-04T18:03:39Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I sprinkle anthrax on my vegetables. LA-DE-DA! Botulism too good for you, huh?! Yeah I never wash fruit or veg either. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/14 "2011-10-04T18:07:01Z")
Hell, back in the day we used to have those cans floating around in the ice/water in the cooler with half rotted bait while fishing. Nobody died. Except Carlos, but he was weak and deserved to die. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/15 "2011-10-04T18:08:00Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > LA-DE-DA! > Botulism too good for you, huh?! I used to sprinkle botulism on my veggies, but I didn’t need the calories. If I want that mouth-feel, I’ll squirt some infected pus on my food. Even I said eww! while I was typing that. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/16 "2011-10-04T18:11:31Z")
I wash fruits and veggies, just to get the dirt, wax and pesticides off, I don’t care about germs. I did know a guy who was a supermarket manager, and he said “I NEVER drink out of a can, because I know what goes on with them in the back of the supermarket.” He didn’t elaborate, but I’m guessing it’s more of a “bring those cases over here, I have to stand on something to reach the lightbulb” issue rather than “let’s pee all over the cans and see if anyone notices”. I hope I’m right. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/17 "2011-10-04T18:18:40Z")
In college, I bought a sixer of pilsner (in cans) on my way to my GF’s late one night. When I got there, she was sitting on the porch waiting for me, so I plopped down, grabbed a brew, popped it open, and put it to my lips. What I tasted and felt was salty and gritty and hairy and sticky. I looked down, squinting at the can in the moonlight, and saw a gummy yellowish goo covering the top of the can with hair and chunks of crud stuck in it. I screamed like a woman and gargled with scalding hot salt water and Listerine for 10 minutes. Worst-case scenario, I know, and probably extremely rare to boot. But I don’t drink out of cans anymore because of this. Warehouse/store conditions that lead to those cans being covered in Buddha-knows-what may not always materialize in something so visible on my cans. But the possibility of nasty shit being there still exists. For example, a warehouse worker stands in a puddle of piss in front of a urinal, then goes back into the warehouse, and walks across a pallet of cans with his pee-pee boots. And now I’m gonna put that can on my lips? Nope. I don’t drink out of cans anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/18 "2011-10-04T18:31:49Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I wash fruits and veggies, just to get the dirt, wax and pesticides off, I don’t care about germs. I doubt rinsing is all that effective at removing pesticides or wax - at least not if the vegetables are still in good shape when you’re finished. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/19 "2011-10-04T18:32:27Z")
There’s mouse pee and poop on them, too. 😉 I sometimes give a half-hearted swipe to the top of a can. I usually use bottles though! I wash fruits that I leave out on the counter, especially bananas. It gets the eggs of those stupid fruit gnats off of them. I _hate_ those! ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578/20 "2011-10-04T18:38:02Z")
Hasn’t anyone noticed how the hospitals are filled to overflowing with sufferers of the dread can-spread plague? Vast swathes of people are sick and dying from drinking from unwashed cans. We all know someone…my father was taken by a can of 7-Up back in Aught-Three. I mean, it would be different if this weren’t happening. In such a perfect world, we’d be completely justified in continuing to ignore this and in treating it as a complete non-issue. Alas, we can only dream… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-out-of-cans/598578.md?page=2)