VIABILITY OF THE COLON-TYPHOID GROUP IN 



CARBONATED WATER AND CARBONATED 



BEVERAGES 



S. A. KOSER AND W. W. SKINNER 



From the Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C. 



Received for publication May 19, 1921 



The destructive effect of carbon dioxide on various micro- 

 organisms and the value of carbonation for the preservation of 

 foods and beverages have claimed the interest of a number of 

 workers since the first days of bacteriology. As early as 1885, 

 Leone reported the examination of several commercial mineral 

 waters which were under a slight pressure of CO2. The number 

 of microorganisms found to be present was always low. He 

 also observed that after passmg CO2 gas through a drinking water 

 the total count rapidly diminished. 



Somewhat later than this a number of investigations were 

 made of the destructive effect of CO2 under relatively high 

 pressures. Schaffer and Freudenreich (1891-1892), after study- 

 ing the effect of pressures of 40 to 50 atmospheres of CO2 com- 

 bined with an increase of temperature, conclude that CO2 has 

 onh^ a feeble bactericidal action. Sabraz^s and Bazin (1893) 

 found that cultures of Bad. typhosum, Bad. coli, Staphylococ- 

 cus aureus, and the anthrax bacillus were able to develop after 

 exposure to 60 to 70 atmospheres of CO2 for several hours. These 

 results are contradicted by D'Arsonval and Charrin (1893) who 

 report that CO2 under a pressure of 50 atmospheres sterilized 

 cultures of Ps. pyocyanea in from six to twenty-four hours. 

 Recently, Larson, Hartzell, and Diehl (1918), in a study of the 

 effect of pressures upon bacteria, found that CO2 under a pres- 

 sure of 50 atmospheres would destroy Bad. typhosum, Bad. 

 coli, Mycobad. tuberculosis, Ps. pyocyanea, staphylococci, strep- 



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