FR, the lines on the top machine get hooked up to a metering pump whose intakes are
A. Bag of “Soda” syrup which comes in a box
B. Air Tank of Carbonation
C. Water
The outlet hoses themselves are transparent so a lot of serious issues would be noticed and rectified, but in general stores don’t implement proper protocol to clean or change them out regularly. There is actually a couple of bacterial strains found almost exclusively in the lines, I’ve had the priviledge to examine them in person. They’re rarely very harmful but it’s kind of neat.
The actual machine people see usually only houses the refrigeration unit with the pumps and bags and tank on the other side of a wall or hidden under a counter.
Umm… Around the year 2000 I worked at a couple of different convenience stores in the south, ours were never cleaned, shit they were rarely changed with the exception of Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper because our regulars would tear through them. I remember the lines being clear…ish? They had the embedded nylon or whatever in the clear tube but ours were way nastier than my 18 year old brain wanted to realize.
That’s usually because the syrup to carbonated water ratio is different. But yeah I’m sure if you never clean the lines it won’t be as good. (Or if you have some weirdness where people are swapping the soda lines. Should be rare though, as you don’t want to swap which one says coke/sprite/w.e on the other end
FYI, those machines are rarely cleaned.
FR, the lines on the top machine get hooked up to a metering pump whose intakes are
A. Bag of “Soda” syrup which comes in a box
B. Air Tank of Carbonation
C. Water
The outlet hoses themselves are transparent so a lot of serious issues would be noticed and rectified, but in general stores don’t implement proper protocol to clean or change them out regularly. There is actually a couple of bacterial strains found almost exclusively in the lines, I’ve had the priviledge to examine them in person. They’re rarely very harmful but it’s kind of neat.
The actual machine people see usually only houses the refrigeration unit with the pumps and bags and tank on the other side of a wall or hidden under a counter.
i like to think the soda dispenser bacteria enhances my biological profile
Your immune system is going to hate it but your gut biome is going to love it.
Umm… Around the year 2000 I worked at a couple of different convenience stores in the south, ours were never cleaned, shit they were rarely changed with the exception of Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper because our regulars would tear through them. I remember the lines being clear…ish? They had the embedded nylon or whatever in the clear tube but ours were way nastier than my 18 year old brain wanted to realize.
… is that the reason some places drinks taste different?
That’s usually because the syrup to carbonated water ratio is different. But yeah I’m sure if you never clean the lines it won’t be as good. (Or if you have some weirdness where people are swapping the soda lines. Should be rare though, as you don’t want to swap which one says coke/sprite/w.e on the other end
i feel like if you worry about this you should just not eat out at all, ever