Fact-check: Truth behind viral video of Coca-Cola testing positive for COVID-19

A rather bizarre video of an Austrian politician conducting a COVID-19 rapid antigen test on a glass of Coca-Cola and procuring a positive result is going viral on multiple social media platforms.

Netizens have been sharing the said clip incessantly, raising questions on the authenticity of the COVID-19 tests. However, the claim that Coca-Cola tested positive for the dreaded disease is false as the politician missed an important step while carrying out the test.

The claim

In the 6-minutes-long video, Michael Schnedlitz, a member of the National Council of Austria, can be seen using a COVID-19 test on a glass of Coca-Cola in the Parliament and the result comes out to be positive.

"Today I did a corona test live in Parliament. The corona mass tests are worthless! This also showed a simple experiment in Parliament where a coke got a positive result! But this black-green government spends tens of millions in tax money on these very tests and tests," wrote Schnedlitz post while sharing the video on Facebook. His post can be viewed here.

Subsequently, a host of social media users reposted the video and dubbed the rapid antigen tests as unreliable. Some even called out the government for "stripping away almost a year of their lives".

Fact-check

Upon investigating Schnedlitz's claim, International Business Times found out that he had missed a crucial step while testing Coca-Cola for the novel coronavirus disease and that is why the popular soft-drink returned a positive result.

Dialab, the rapid antigen test manufacturing company, explained via multiple posts on its Facebook and YouTube pages that Schnedlitz skipped swirling the glass of Coca-Cola with buffer, which is essential to keep the pH value constant in order to conduct the test correctly.

It further stated that when a sample is not swirled with the buffer, the antibody proteins of the test are destroyed, showing the positive marker.

"In a properly executed test, the sample is always swirled first in a liquid (buffer) that keeps the pH constant. If you had used the test in a right manner, as described in the package insert, the test would be negative," Dialab said in its YouTube video, which can be watched here. It also added that such tests should always be performed by trained professionals to avoid false results.

Therefore, the claim made by Schnedlitz can be termed as false as he missed an essential step, which led to a positive result.