Everyone experiences a situation when you pour yourself a glass of chilled wine of your favorite variety and a fruit fly flies in. Now you are faced with a dilemma: throw the fly out of the glass and enjoy the drink or pour it out, because fruit flies feed in landfills and other not-very pleasant places.

Science Alert asked experts this question. They explained everything in terms of science.

Fruit flies, also known as Drosophila, do indeed feed on decaying food. They usually find their prey in garbage cans, compost pits, drains and ditches. All of these places are teeming with microbes, including pathogens. Thus, they get on the body of the fly itself in the process.

Among the most dangerous microorganisms that can be found on insects are E. coli, shigella and salmonella. Sounds daunting, but scientists don't advise rushing to pour out the wine, even after contact with Drosophila.

Typically, wine contains 8 to 14 percent ethanol and has a pH of about 4 or 5. If the pH is below 7, such a beverage will taste sour. These conditions are sufficient to inhibit the growth of microbes. Because of these properties, wine can be stored for such a long time.

Some laboratory studies have also shown that the combined action of wine alcohol and organic acids such as malic acid can prevent the growth of E. coli and Salmonella. So a fly would have to bring in a lot of germs to make the drink dangerous, which rarely happens.

The wine that Drosophila got into is very likely to be chilled. Low temperature also stops the growth of microorganisms. If you add the natural antibacterial properties of all types of wine, there is no doubt that the drink in which the insect ended up will be safe.

The last argument says that even if some microorganisms survive in the drink, they are unlikely to withstand the extreme conditions in the human stomach. The fact is that gastric juice has hydrochloric acid, which kills bacteria, especially if there are not many of them.

Microbes also have to overcome other deadly barriers in the stomach, such as digestive enzymes, the mucus that binds them and various immune system mechanisms. Therefore, bacteria introduced by flies into wine don't stand a chance.

In general, experts advise not to worry about the presence of flies in wine. Those who suffer from protein deficiency are jokingly advised to drink wine together with the insect on purpose. Tiny Drosophila is unlikely to affect the taste of the drink and will be digested and assimilated as well as any protein product.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL shared how to get rid of flies and mosquitoes in the house with the help of improvised means.

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