Why Lemons Might Be Contaminating Your Cocktails

It's not just eccentric billionaires and the people who interview them who worry about cleanliness in eating establishments.

Scientists commonly turn their inquisitive gaze to mundane restaurant items that may appear harmless but are in fact crawling with microscopic and potentially harmful lifeforms.

Thanks to these pesky scientists, we now know that one of the most ubiquitous drink garnishes used in restaurants is rife with germs. That's right—the lemons used to infuse water, garnish cocktails, and take the edge off tequila shots are a breeding ground for bacteria. And while these and other citrus are commonly associated with freshness and known for their ability to kill bacteria with their high acid content, the reality is that lemon wedges could potentially do more damage to your body than said tequila shot.

Back in 2007, a study entitled "Microbial Growth on Restaurant Beverage Lemon Wedges," appearing in the Journal of Environmental Health, found that of the 76 lemons swabbed from 21 different restaurants, nearly 70 percent were found to have at least one of 25 different germs on them, many of which can be very harmful to humans.

"The microbes found on the lemon samples in our investigation all have the potential to cause infectious diseases at various body sites, although the likelihood was not determined in this study," the researchers wrote at the time. "Restaurant patrons should be aware that lemon slices added to beverages may include potentially pathogenic microbes."

Building on that research, ELLE UK spoke with Philip Tierno,a clinical professor of microbiology and pathology at New York University School of Medicine and author of The Secret Life of Germs. According to Tierno, not much has changed since the 2007 study and said he commonly finds potentially deadly mircobes like E. coli, staph, and norovirus on lemon skins. He even told ELLE UK that he'd found traces of fecal matter on lemons—not exactly the kind of citrus-y goodness you want floating around in your lemon-based cocktail.

Tierno chalks this up to factors as disparate (and as common) as bad handwashing and sloppy bartending. "People are touching the lemon in your glass, handling it, cutting it, placing it in a container or a cup, or a glass; and then picking up those slices at a later point in time and dropping them into a drink and putting them on the rim of a glass," said Tierno. "You can easily see how those lemon slices and lemon wedges can be contaminated."

The only way to really dodge lemon germs—other than not ordering them at all—according to Tierno, is for them to be in a really stiff drink, because straight liquor is a very hostile environment for bacteria. This works out well because you'll probably need a stiff drink after reading about how filthy lemons are.