Austrian FPÖ Member of Parliament Michael Schnedlitz administered a COVID-19 PCR test to the beverage Coca Cola in the plenum before his colleagues. The popular drink tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

He said he was performing the test live before parliament: "so you can see how worthless and misguided these mass tests are."

He continued: "The evidence is overwhelming, starting with the absolutely absurd mass tests that are currently being carried out, which are nothing more than a large-scale redistribution of tens of millions of euros in tax money from the population...it can't go on like this."

Schnedlitz later wrote on his Facebook page: “The coronavirus mass tests are worthless! This was also shown by a simple experiment in parliament, in which cola got a positive result! But this government spends tens of millions in taxpayers' money for precisely these tests."

It is recommended not to drink acidic beverages like cola an hour before this test, which some have suggested could possibly explain how he had the courage to take such a gamble. The liquids that keep the pH value constant in a certain range are called buffers. They say that is exactly what the FPÖ politician avoided. That is why the acids contained in the cola reacted with the antibody that is actually supposed to catch the virus proteins.

The Welt quoted a Dialab company manager who produces the test used by the MP: “Any pregnancy test would have been positive. Before the honorable Member makes such embarrassing statements public, it might make sense to deal with the chemistry just a little beforehand.”

Remaining cola in the mouth would not have this effect, the buffer prevents that. However, if a sample is taken from the mouth, experts advise not to eat, drink, or smoke for an hour, mainly because the virus concentration in the mouth can drop if it is rinsed again beforehand. However, according to the package insert, the Dialab rapid test should be done with nose samples anyway, where Coca Cola isn't.

In May, Tanzania suspended the head of its national health laboratory in charge of testing coronavirus and ordered an investigation, after President John Magufuli questioned the tests’ accuracy.

Magufuli said the imported test kits were faulty as they had returned positive results on a goat and a pawpaw fruit — among several non-human samples submitted for testing, with technicians left deliberately unaware of their origins.