Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
November,  1920.  ) 
Bacteria  in  Soft  Drinks. 
805 
water  to  protect  themselves,  by  carefully  supervising  the  manu- 
facture as  well  as  the  finished  preparations.  It  is  advisable  that 
they  start  early  to  control  the  bacterial  content  of  their  samples, 
before  they  will  be  compelled  to  do  so,  as  there  is  no  doubt  that  in 
the  near  future,  legal  requirements  will  necessitate  such  supervision. 
A  community  has  a  right  to  demand  that  whatever  quaUties  soft 
drinks  may  claim  or  may  possess,  these  should  be  secondary  to  clean- 
liness and  it  should  be  the  duty  of  those  who  guard  the  health  of  the 
community  to  determine  whether  such  products  are  free  from  con- 
tamination. The  public  should  demand  this  as  they  have  the  right 
to  expect  it.  Many  laymen  are  under  the  impression  that  such 
strict  supervision  is  at  present  being  exercised  by  proper  authorities. 
The  water  used  in  the  manufacture  of  the  soft  drinks  in  plants, 
under  the  writer's  observation,  was  usually  found  to  be  potable. 
The  danger  of  contamination  is  due  more  to  the  careless 
washing  of  the  containers,  or  the  introduction  of  a  contaminated 
flavoring  syrup,  or  to  minor  details  carried  out  during  the  operation. 
Actual  inspection  of  the  plant  during  every  stage  of  manufacture, 
together  with  bacteriological  examinations  of  all  ingredients  entering 
into  the  preparation  of  the  beverage  will  lead  to  a  determination  of 
the  responsibility  for  any  unsuitable  product.  In  the  long  run, 
such  inspections  and  examinations  save  untold  worry  and  con- 
siderable expense. 
An  artificially  carbonated  water  prepared  under  cleanly  condi- 
tions, will  usually  show  a  low  bacterial  content.  The  writer  car- 
bonated a  number  of  samples  on  one  occasion.  The  containers  were 
cleansed  properly,  the  flavoring  syrup  was  low  in  bacteria,  and  all 
other  procedures  were  guarded  as  they  should  be  by  any  one  familiar 
with  the  simple  technique  of  filling  the  bottles.  The  bacterial 
content  of  the  finished  preparation  was  lower  Cc.  per  Cc.  than  was 
observed  in  the  water  used  in  preparing  the  product. 
To  actually  show  what  the  condition  is,  the  writer  obtained  15 
samples  of  different  brands  of  soft  drinks.  Many  of  these  were 
bought  during  the  months  of  April  and  early  May,  and  obtained 
from  lots  that  were  delivered,  in  most  instances,  in  his  presence. 
He  was  thus  assured,  that  the  samples  represented  the  finished 
products  as  sent  out  from  the  plants  of  the  various  manufacturers 
and  did  not  represent  samples  that  were  allowed  to  incubate  at  room 
temperature  or  exposed  to  heat  in  the  retail  stores. 
Of  the  fifteen  samples,  six,  or  40  per  cent.,  were  found  to  contain 
