this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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Science Memes

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top 21 comments
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[–] iii@mander.xyz 64 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

My therapist told me not to view things so negatively. So instead of saying "I have listeria", go "I have thousands of new small friends"

[–] Venator@lemmy.nz 18 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Wouldn't it be closer to millions?

[–] iii@mander.xyz 14 points 2 weeks ago

Even better!

[–] i_love_FFT@jlai.lu 7 points 2 weeks ago

Maybe most of them aren't friends, just some... Millions of new flatmates, meaning a guarantee of thousands of new friends!

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 weeks ago

Definitely. The minimum infective dose is around 10-100 million CFUs.

[–] abbotsbury@lemmy.world 47 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

okay so since this is the science memes community, did I choose the right foodborne illness or was there a better punchline than listeria?

[–] Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 31 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Unless coffee is too acidic this is one instance where mentioning botulism might actually be justified

[–] TheSlad@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 weeks ago

I thought botulism thrived in room-temp anaerobic environments? If theyre constantly opening and refreshing thier cold brew coffee and keeping it in the fridge then i dont think botulism is much of a risk.

[–] ryedaft@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 weeks ago

Listeria survives well in a cold, wet environment so I would say it was spot on.

[–] Mbourgon@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago

Thank god , I was worried there was something I’d missed on cold brew coffee and I should be bleaching more things between runs

[–] RebekahWSD@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

The thing I remember listeria getting into for my food manager safety cert was underheated nacho cheese and deli meats!

[–] wolframhydroxide@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I am confused. You are not the OP?

* OHH THE OG OOP.

[–] phobiac@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

I ran a microbiology lab that specifically tested for food borne illness causing bacteria.

Here's a very recent attempt to assess the safety of cold brew coffee coming out of UGA. https://newswire.caes.uga.edu/story/10365/cold-brew-coffee.html

These findings line up with earlier work such as this paper doing a general analysis of cold brew coffee and this Canadian government report on detected food borne pathogens in cold brew coffee..

The consensus I'm seeing is that cold brew coffee, especially when kept cold, is not a great environment for most food borne illness causing pathogens to thrive. Bacillus cereus and potentially botulism would have been more accurate choices.

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 3 points 2 weeks ago

Well I have had it 3 times (Caramel apples, Hummus, Ice Cream)

And I think I made that face each time sooo.. Yeah I think it works.

[–] Batman@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago

The key is to distill the water out and pour it into the new beans. You don't even need new water, it's pure 🔥 👌 💯 🤧 😍 😩 🔥

[–] Rakonat@lemmy.world 11 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I'm the caveman who thought this was craft beer or something. Y'all drinking coffee cold? Scared caveman noises.

[–] socsa@piefed.social 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Doing longer extractions (12hr+) with room temperature water makes very smooth coffee with much less bitterness and significantly higher caffeine content. It's also less fussy - set it up in the evening and have great coffee in the morning.

[–] stray@pawb.social 11 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Maybe there's something I don't understand (I don't drink coffee at all), but coffee is antimicrobial and doesn't need to be kept out of the food safety danger zone. I should think it would take an extremely long time to grow pathogens.

Relevant study: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388799782_Survival_of_Listeria_monocytogenes_in_commercially_available_refrigerated_cold-brewed_coffee

[–] PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk 10 points 2 weeks ago

idk man, the shit that comes out of the drip tray of my coffee machine sure smells like it has a lot of bacteria in it

[–] rustydrd@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 weeks ago

I think the concern initially was that cold brew may be more prone to bacterial contamination than normal coffee, because it has lower acidity and the water used to make it is not boiled. But like the study you linked found, it seems to be safe at least when refrigerated.

[–] felixwhynot@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

I wash my cauldron between batches. Seems legit.