Ice used in drinks proves harmful
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October 7th, 2003
A study of ice cubes served in drinks in bars and
restaurants has found that many are unfit for human consumption
because of poor hygiene when they are handled.
Samples were taken from ice buckets and ice machines from a
variety of pubs and restaurants and found 44% of samples contained
the potentially harmful coliforms bacteria.
A further 5% contained E coli, which can cause severe food poisoning,
and 10% contained bacteria called enterococci, which again can
potentially be harmful.
It showed that staff failing to wash their hands properly before
handling the ice is causing contamination.