Spread love, not germs.

That’s the motto of a brand new company that is about to launch a genius invention designed to allow us all to (hygienically) blow out our birthday cake candles.

Even before we were in the grips of a global pandemic, studies had shown that energetically exhaling all over a cake is an excellent way to drench it in bacteria.

In fact, one group of scientists recorded a whopping 120 times more bacteria on the icing of a cake after the candles were blown out, but the average is about 1,400% more bacteria post-candles.

Grim.

While in the pre-Covid days, this was nothing much to worry about (everyone’s mouths are full of bacteria, it’s mostly harmless), these days the idea of handing out slices of dessert topped in a layer of respiratory droplets is a really bad idea.

Step forward Top It, a US company that plans to launch transparent cake shields in three different shapes on September 15th.

 

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A post shared by @topitcakeshield on Aug 21, 2020 at 2:56pm PDT

According to Pure Wow, the shields were invented by a doctor and have recessed tracks to hold all types of birthday candles safely above the protected cake.

Announcing a way to ‘have your cake and eat it too’ the company released images of two of their designs on Instagram this week, with three Top It Cake Shields expected to retail at around €13 each (no work on international shipping yet but you can sign up to be the first in line to purchase here).

As we get to grips with the new normal, it’s one way of ensuring a time-worn birthday tradition doesn’t get cancelled completely.