Fact checkers claim it’s due to acidity.
A man who says he tested numerous household items for COVID-19 claims that Pepsi Max, milk and mango chutney all came up positive.
The individual contacted LockdownSceptics.org to relate how he tested seven different items using lateral flow tests.
Three gave a negative result, one gave a void, with the other three producing a positive result.
“I make that a false positive rate of 43%, or 50% if you remove the voided result from the sample,” stated the reader.
Water tea, and the man’s own saliva came back negative, Lee & Perrins sauce gave a void, but Pepsi Max, milk and mango chutney all came up positive for SARS-CoV-2.
“Obviously, I am not going to report these staggering results, but maybe I’m looking for a conspiracy in the wrong area… Maybe the real bombshell is that COVID-19 is being spread through cola, cow’s milk and curry condiments,” he joked.
This is by no means the first time non-humans have apparently tested positive for coronavirus.
In May last year, Tanzania President John Magufuli said a goat and a pawpaw fruit tested positive for COVID-19 after samples were sent to lab technicians.
Magufuli subsequently claimed that the false positives proved “some people were being tested positive when in fact they were not infected by the coronavirus,” reported Reuters.
Fact checkers claim that the false positives are a result of things like coca-cola and fruit juice breaking the test because they are too acidic – although this doesn’t explain why milk or a goat would test positive.
The reliability of lateral flow (PCR) tests has been a subject of hot debate, with the UK government claiming they are 99.9% accurate.
However, as the British Medical Journal noted, “Early results from students testing at the University of Birmingham and universities in Scotland showed that tests had a sensitivity of just 3% and that 58% of positive test results were false.”
Article: Man claims Pepsi Max, milk & mango chutney all tested positive for coronavirus