Planning on ‘doing a shoey’? You might want to read this first …
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It is a celebration Australia's leading Formula One racer is synonymous with, a visual signature instantly recognisable.
Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo drives fast, flashes a pearly white winning smile and, without exception, toasts every podium finish by drinking the sponsor's champagne from a boot.
That's right — the motor ace drinks alcohol from the very boots he has just worn and sweated in for up to 300 kilometres, and several hours of intense racing conditions, on an international circuit.
Or, to give it its formal moniker: he does a Shoey.
Intuition would tell you that such an item of worn, soiled footwear is live with bacteria. And not the ideal vessel for housing a post-race refresher.
External Link: Australians are never shy about getting their shoey on
And that intuition is right. But it gets worse.
Not only is there abundant bacteria present in the fabric of the shoe, but testing — under strict laboratory conditions — by the ABC reveals that champagne is possibly the worst alcoholic beverage you could add to it.
Bubbles and sweaty shoes just don't mix.
The combination produces a toxic cocktail that may well lead to an unscheduled and extremely unwanted pit stop for Daniel and fellow shoey enthusiasts who follow his lead.
As the shoey craze spreads around the globe, it is potentially spreading germs around practitioners' guts. But don't just take our word for it.
External Link: The shoey has a long and storied history.
And now for the science …
The ABC engaged Western Sydney University's (WSU) School of Medicine Gastroenterology Laboratory to embrace the funk, test sport shoes for bacteria, add some booze and report their findings.
The examination produced many fascinating results.
But the results can most succinctly be summarised through the words of our scientific examiner in chief, WSU clinical academic gastroenterologist, Dr Vincent Ho:
"I wouldn't recommend drinking out of a shoe that's been immersed in alcohol."
Dr Ho knows about this stuff.
Handed a selection of sports shoes, trainers and boots to investigate, his initial examinations showed that harmless bacterial organisms were found in all the shoes tested — this was as expected.
The shoes were then immersed in a variety of alcoholic beverages for 60 seconds, re-swabbed and re-tested.
This is where the stomach begins to turn.
"One of the most remarkable things we found here was the fact that you could actually isolate an organism such as Staph even after it's been immersed in alcohol for a good one minute," Dr Ho said.
Staph, or Staphylococcus aureus, is not something you want to be drinking. It can lead to septicaemia, pneumonia, food poisoning, vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea.
If you're going to shoe it, shoe it right
With the preliminary results in, the effects on the growth of the bacteria were sent to a separate lab for external pathology testing.
The positive — and possibly surprising — revelation was that in most instances the alcohol kills much of the bacteria present.
In fact, the only drink that failed to do so was sparkling white wine or champagne. Not only did the fizzy stuff fail to act as a disinfectant, but it encouraged the growth of more bacteria — and we're not talking the friendly kind.
Food (or drink) for thought when champagne is the go-to tipple for Ricciardo when he celebrates a F1 podium finish.
Perhaps he should think about switching drinks.
Using vodka (37 per cent alc./vol), the high concentration of alcohol inhibited the growth of bacteria. Beer (4.5 per cent alc./vol) provided an unfavourable environment for bacteria due to a low pH environment, low oxygen environment and lacks nutritive substances
"A lot of beers, particularly the ones we tested, contains hops … that can actually inactivate a lot of these organism like Staph," Dr Ho said.
Red Wine (14 per cent alc./vol), fared better. An agreeable Vino Tinto contains a number of anti-bacterial compounds that can be effective in combating bacteria.
However, the formation of sparkling wine/champagne (13 per cent alc./vol), where sugar and yeast are added to the base wine, involves a secondary fermentation process. During that secondary fermentation process, bacteria are also at work.
The results indicated that Staph aureus enjoys a glass-cum-boot of bubbly as much or even more so than the average wedding guest or New Year's Eve reveller.
"Based upon the data we've been able to obtain, certainly you can get some bacteria that can survive into the stomach — alive — after being immersed for one minute in sparkling wine," Dr Ho said.
"We found a degree of Staph aureus [and] it can cause food poisoning in individuals through its toxins."
A shoey could make you spewy
There are other factors at play besides which poison you choose, too.
When it comes to a shoey, the "three second rule" does not apply.
The quicker you drink the alcohol — namely champagne or sparkling white — from a worn shoe, the worse it could be when it comes to bacteria entering your stomach, alive.
"Whether you drink it very quickly — within a minute — you're likely to have some of these organisms surviving," Dr Ho said
"What we don't know is whether or not if you immerse the alcohol for a longer period of time, maybe 15 to 30 minutes, whether that may have a stronger effect on the bacteria."
While the laboratory findings did not specifically assess whether Staph aureus could survive the acidic environment of the stomach, previous evidence suggests it's resilient to various conditions.
"Because the Staph aureus can cause toxins, and these toxins are quite resistant to heat, they're quite resistant to an acidic environment and they can survive protein-breaking enzymes," Dr Ho explained.
"When they hit the small bowel, they can cause inflammation of the small bowel and cause gastroenteritis.
"In theory, if you drink from that shoe containing Staph and its toxins, yes it can give you an acute gastroenteritis."
A 'toe-st' to those who've led the shoey-evolution
External Link: Jack Miller Shoey Insta
The origins of the shoey is a slightly contested one — featuring military hazing rituals, Moscow's Bolshoi ballet and fans drinking from ballerina slippers — but what is not in doubt is that it has really taken off in the last couple of years.
Not least through the exploits of MotoGP rider Jack Miller (who attributed his first celebratory footwear-related skolling after a win two years ago) and, of course, Ricciardo.
He performed his debut shoey after a podium finish in his 100th grand prix, in Germany, 2016. It's now become his thing and, unwillingly perhaps, a thing, too, for some of the globe's A-listers who share a podium moment with the affable West Australian.
Ricciardo even has, in his mind at least, method to the seeming madness of the act.
"If the sparkling wine is cold, then it tastes good," he told Sky Sports back in 2016.
"If it's warm then you might get the sweat through it but the cold taste kills the bad stuff… so it's delicious."
Logic is one thing, science is another.
"[Ricciardo's] right in saying that you can slow the growth of the bacteria but just because you've got low temperatures doesn't mean you'll kill all the bacteria, unfortunately," Dr Ho explained.
"In the case of Staph aureus … it certainly can still have in-tact toxins that can cause gastroenteritis.
"If I was advising Daniel about this, then yes, you need to take special precautions when drinking from a shoe. Less contact time with the feet would be preferable, use a clean shoe and possibly not use sparkling wine.
"What I'd like to do, firstly, with Daniel is if he's able to give one of his shoes that he drinks from. It'd be great to see what bacteria we can isolate," concluded Dr Ho, eager to get to the heart and sole of the matter.
Until then, Ricciardo, when you next do a shoey, maybe take some learnings from our study. Stick to a clean boot, stay away from the bubbles and consider using your sponsor's product instead.
Pending scientific testing for the effect on bacteria of that particular energy drink, of course.
*The findings from this preliminary study are indicative, not conclusive, results. The ABC does not encourage drinking any substance — alcoholic or non-alcoholic — from a worn shoe, obviously.
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