Yet another mystery solved

Without being indelicate or revealing too much, my wife occasionally suffers from bouts of, er, intestinal distress.  Oh who am I kidding... when one of these episodes strikes, she ends up in the fetal position for hours (or sometimes days) writhing in agony.

She has spoken to doctors and done intensive research on the Internet... but the source of her discomfort (there's an understatement) has managed so far to evade her.

Being a bit of a know-it-all when it comes to other people's illnesses, I have always assured her that it was certainly stress-related since her debilitating stomach cramps would almost always coincide with the run up to dinner parties or some other sort of entertaining.

However, I just read something on Snopes that made a little 100w light-bulb go on over my head.

We have always enjoyed making 'Sun Tea'. 

For those who don't know what this is, instead of brewing tea with boiling water and then placing this hot liquid in an already overworked fridge to chill... you simply take a big glass jar of cold water, hang some teabags into the water with the strings over the top, screw on the lid and put it out in the sun for a couple of hours.  The sun heats the water and brews the tea.  Very easy.

However, I just read that since this method only warms (rather than heats) the water, it encourages the growth of dangerous bacteria that are commonly found in the water, on the inside of the jar or even in the teabags!

"According to the Centers for Disease Control, using the sun's rays to make tea can facilitate the growth of bacteria. Tea steeped in a jar on your porch won't get any hotter than 130° Fahrenheit, about the temperature of a really hot bath and not nearly hot enough to kill nasties lurking either in the water or on the tea itself. For that, water needs to be heated to 195° for three to five minutes.

Alcaligenes viscolactis, a bacteria commonly found in water, consequently turns up in sun tea.  While the caffeine in black tea will help prevent that microbe from flourishing for a few hours, its effects won't last beyond that. Herbal teas are an even worse bet for brewing in sunlight because they tend to lack caffeine, which means even that barrier to Alcaligenes viscolactis turning your summertime drink into its own breeding ground is missing." (emphasis, mine)

Hellooooo... Not only do we tend to make a big jar of sun tea when we are getting ready to entertain, but my wife insists on preparing it with decaffeinated herbal teas so she can drink it an any time of the day.  Not only that, we routinely let it sit out on the counter (rather than taking up precious space in the fridge) and then simply add ice before serving.

It makes perfect sense that Zahava would suffer from these bacterial nasties while I never noticed a thing.  I have been to over 30 countries and drunk the water and eaten the local produce without any ill effect.  But my wife insists on using the Britta Filter even when we're at home because of her sensitivities to water-borne nasties.

Continuing to quote from Snopes:

"The following rules have been recommended for those who brew sun tea:

• Use a container that has been scrubbed in warm, soapy water. As an additional precaution, dip the container in a bleach solution made with 1-1/2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water.
• If the container has a spigot, clean it carefully after each use, preferably by taking it apart. If you can't clean inside the spigot, don't brew sun tea in that vessel — find yourself something else to use.
• Do not leave tea to brew in the sunlight for more than three to four hours.
• Do not prepare more tea than you plan to use that day.
• Refrigerate the drink as soon as it is ready and keep it refrigerated.
• Discard tea if it appears thick or syrupy. Those ropy strands are bacteria.
• A safer alternative to "sun tea" is "refrigerator tea." To make it, fill a pitcher with a quart of cold water, add four to six tea bags, and refrigerate it at least six hours or overnight. Squeeze and remove the tea bags, and serve the tea over ice. "

No need to thank me honey... I'm a giver.

Source: Here