While it’s no news that feeding you and your family fast food isn’t the healthiest choice, you probably don’t think too much about it. After all, if you only indulge in convenience occasionally, your kids will probably be okay, right? If the fact that you’re feeding them junk food isn’t enough, consider this: testing reveals that 48% of soda fountains contain bacteria; not just any bacteria, but the stuff that is commonly found in feces! Even if your local fast food joint is fairly clean and nobody is in the kitchen coughing on your food, you could still get sick just from indulging in a fountain drink. This is just one more compelling reason to stay away from fast food.

These studies were done by microbiologists from Hollins University and published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology. The specific findings indicate that almost half of commercially operated soda fountains had coliform bacteria present. While not always found in feces, this is the most common source of this bacteria. Most people won’t become seriously ill from this contaminant, but it does often cause stomach upset and general intestinal sickness. Even more alarming, a total of 11% of the soda machines actually had e. coli, which can be deadly.  Would you ever think that a soda could make you or your family ill? However, that’s exactly what’s happening in many cases.

Another alarming thing that the scientists found was that, because of how widespread this contamination is, this infectious bacteria is becoming resistant to antibiotics. So, if you do become sick, it may be hard to kick the infection. While it’s unlikely that you’ll end up hospitalized after drinking contaminated soda, there is a good chance that you will get sick. If avoiding fast food eliminates that risk, that’s reason enough to stay away.