The Just Thought I'd Share Thread

[Dex]

Originally Posted by vivfox

Next time you get a fountain drink at a fast-food joint, you might want to ask for no ice. Samples of ice taken from branches of McDonald's, Burger King, KFC and Starbucks found that the ice contained higher levels of bacteria than samples of water taken from the restaurant's toilet. (We'll pause for a moment to let that sink in.) None of the samples presented an immediate health danger, but four contained high enough samples to be considered a "hygiene risk." Experts chalk this up to the fact that toilets are generally cleaned more than ice machines, but we're still aghast. And will be drinking lukewarm soda from now on.

http://now.msn.com/ice-is-dirtier-th...in-restaurants

MSN cites the UK paper The Daily Mail as its source for that information. And I don't blame you for not knowing this, Viv, but the Daily Mail is an absolute sensationalist rag and everything you take from their reporting needs to come with a massive grain of salt. It is pretty well documented that ice in restaurants has more bacteria than the layperson would expect, but there's just a lot of things wrong with the original Daily Mail article that msn links to, and I just can't not comment. For example, vague citations (who are these "experts" they keep referring to?), and why on earth was toilet water used as the benchmark in the first place? There is no scientific reason for that, and toilet water is cleaner than many people think. They're obviously just using it to play up the "Ewww" factor.

Sorry if I'm coming off as a pretentious knobhead, and feel free to make up your own mind re: ice at restaurants. Some of the places do need to pay better attention to cleaning their ice machines. And how much faith you want to put in your immune system is a completely personal choice. But in most cases bad, sensationalist journalism is a lot more dangerous than bacteria.