Ice Found to Have More Bacteria than Toilet Water

A twelve-year-old schoolgirl took the top prize at a science fair at a Florida school recently for comparing levels of bacteria found in the toilets of fast food restaurants with ice used in drinks at those restaurants.

She discovered that seventy percent of the time the ice had more bacteria than the toilet water.

For her project, Jasmine Roberts visited five fast food restaurants in South Florida. In each of the restaurants, she collected ice samples from self-service dispensers, as well as ice from drinks served through drive-through windows. She also collected samples of toilet water from those restaurants.

All samples were placed into sterile containers and were tested at a lab at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, where she volunteers with a USF professor.

For four out of the five restaurants the ice that came from the self-serve machines had more bacteria than the toilet water. Also, three of the five cups of ice from the drive-through windows had more bacteria than the toilet water.

Of the bacteria found in the ice, three out of the five restaurants tested positive for fecal coliform or E. coli, organisms that come from the feces of warm-blooded animals.

Health symptoms related to the presence of coliform include cramps and diarrhoea. E. coli can cause intestinal illness and, in rare cases, haemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious kidney condition.

The twelve-year-old said that she found the results startling.

"I thought there might be a little bacteria in the ice, but I never expected it to be this much," she said. "And I never thought the toilet water would be cleaner."

She offers several theories for the contamination.

"The machine may not be cleaned properly, or it comes from someone touching the ice with their hands," she said.

After the results came back from the lab, Jasmine went to the relevant restaurant managers or owners, who were shocked at the results. Several of the managers said that they would use the information to change procedures.

What lesson can we learn from this? When ordering your drinks, pass on the ice.