Vancouver Sun

HALF-DAY-OLD SNOW IS SAFE TO EAT, STUDY FINDS

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How safe is it to eat snow? A Romanian university has published the results of just such a study. The 2017 experiment showed it was safe to eat snow that was a half-day old, and safer to eat it in the colder months. But by two days old, the snow is not safe to eat, Istvan Mathe, a professor at the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvan­ia, told The Associated Press. Scientists collected snow from a park and from a roundabout in Miercurea Ciuc, central Romania, in January and February and placed it in sealed, sterile containers.

They then tried to grow bacteria and mould in them. The study took place in temperatur­es ranging from -1.1 C to -17.4 C. After one day, there were five bacteria per millimetre in January, while in February that number quadrupled.

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