With the help of soft drinks, a false positive result can be provoked in a Covid-19 antigen test. You hear and read that again and again. The University of Liverpool has now examined various beverages and published its findings.

The goal of a team led by Dr. Louise Oni from the University of Liverpool was there to systematically test several soft drinks to determine whether they could actually cause false positive results in Covid-19 antigen tests. 

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They examined 14 drinks, one mineral water and 13 soft drinks – from Coca Cola to pineapple and apple juice to Sprite and Fanta. They also made aqueous solutions from four sweetener tablets and used them for the antigen test. 

In addition to the test result, Oni and colleagues also took a close look at the pH value of the respective sample, the sugar content and the ingredients.

One sample (1/14; 7%), spring water, tested negative. Ten drinks (10/14; 71% ) resulted in a positive or marginally positive outcome. Three samples (3/14; 21% ) yielded void results, the majority of which were fruit concentrate drinks.

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There was no apparent correlation between the pH value of the drinks (pH 5.0 in 13/14, 93%; pH 6.5 in 1/14, 7%) or the sugar content of the drinks (range 0-10.7 grammes per 100mls) and their LFD result. Each of the four artificial sweeteners yielded negative results. A subset of the results was fully replicated using materials obtained from different sources.

The study concluded stating that several soft drinks can be abused to produce false positive LFD results for SARS-CoV-2.

Daily LFD testing should be performed first thing in the morning, prior to any food or beverage consumption, and should be supervised where possible.

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