NEW YORK, Nov 20 — A pair of Belgian researchers found traces of herpes virus and cocaine lurking in library copies of E. L. James's popular erotic novel “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
The professors decided to run the ten most popular books at the Antwerp library through bacteriology and toxicology tests to discover how germy those loaners really are. The novel “Tango” — a romance by Pieter Aspe — also tested positive for herpes.
All ten of the books contained traces of cocaine, but not enough so that readers would feel the effects — yet due to today's sensitive drug testing methods, they might test positive for the drug, the researchers said.
Still, Jan Tytgat, a professor of toxicology at the Catholic University of Leuven, told the Flanders News website that the traces of both herpes and cocaine were too small to be harmful to readers of the book. — AFP-Relaxnews
