ARE banknotes contaminated with dangerous levels of bacteria that can make you sick? Apparently not, according to food microbiologist at the University of Ballarat Dr Frank Vriesekoop.The urban legend has been shattered by a global research team led by Dr Vriesekoop after one of his students asked him about sanitation in food outlets and the handling of money.Similar results in Australia and New Zealand led Dr Vriesekoop to believe the low results of bacteria were related to the plastic material of the notes.More than 1200 banknotes were examined as the project quickly expanded to include countries such as China, Mexico, the UK and the United States, finding a strong relationship with the economic wealth of a country.''We found that the more affluent countries had cleaner banknotes while the poorer countries have slightly dirtier banknotes,'' Dr Vriesekoop said.Dr Vriesekoop said UB has a big role to play in international research and would be presenting the research in Mexico at a food and safety conference in October.