Covid-19: Does drinking Coca Cola interfere with the antigen test?

This week, a video was posted on social networks where a man posing as a pharmacist performs a highly unusual experiment. He pours a few drops of Coca Cola into the antigen test for Covid-19 and a positive result is displayed.

This video has cast doubt on the reliability of this type of test. Nevertheless, there is a logical explanation for the result.

Any acidic solution has the capacity to produce a positive antigenic test. This is why the samples to be tested must be diluted with the solvent supplied with the medical device.

With regard to the video that was posted, it is logical that Coca Cola, an acidic solution, poured directly onto the test product would degrade the device.

The person who performed the experiment released a second video that was not as successful as the first one. The alleged pharmacist explains that it was a joke and that he knew that the test is sensitive to acid solutions.

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