February 13th, 2006
Ice Machines Contain More Bacteria Than Toilet Bowl Water
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
It must be germ week here at RealTechNews. This is a tad off topic, but a 7th grade girl did a little experiment that may have you re-thinking that next restaurant Coke or root beer. She took a bacteria culture of ice from a fast food restaurant soda machine, and another cultuure of the water from that same restaurant’s toilet and guess what? You’d be better off having a long sip from the bowl than from your 24 oz. soft drink.
Benito Middle School student Jasmine Roberts examined the amount of bacteria in ice served at fast food restaurants. The 12-year-old compared the ice used in the drinks with the water from toilet bowls in the same restaurants. Jasmine said 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.” Her discovery: Seventy percent of the time, the ice had more bacteria than the toilet water. Source: TBO.com via diggdot.us
We Say: Before you get all up in arms, keep in mind that she is not a trained scientist and there are a lot of factors and also a lot of things in water that just are part of water - including bacteria. But keeping ice machines clean is something health inspectors test for, and this place may have fallen way behind. But, it’s still scary to have to re-think frozen water.
Daniel says:
Actually, this is not that surprising. Toilets are cleaned frequently and often have those time-release cleaners in the tank (if there is one). Ice and soda machines may be cleaned frequently, but proabably not with a bleach/bacteriocidal cleaner. The real question here is, does this ice machine meet local health laws? If so, nothing to see here, move along.
February 13th, 2006 at 2:17 pm
MissingFrame says:
Finally, my drinking out of the toilet is justified!!
February 13th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
Richard says:
I think this 12 year old kid just put a lot of scientist to shame. She should get an agent too. ABC news will be calling her (if they haven’t allready). There will be an uproar. Fast food CEOs will be scrambling to prove their ice is safe. Way to go kid.
Now if you could work on this problem we have with software from Microsoft…
Richard
February 13th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
ronk says:
I found mold in ice I got from a machine at a holel near sea-tac airport
February 14th, 2006 at 1:46 am
Mumblix Grumph says:
ronk, you’re lucky that’s all you found.
February 14th, 2006 at 2:15 am
David says:
My father is a microbiologist and he always told me that there were more bacteria in the average fridge than the average toilet. Just like Daniel said - the toilet gets cleaned out by fast-running fresh water many times a day, unlike the fridge (or ice machine).
February 14th, 2006 at 3:19 am
Mikey says:
Death to the Ice Machine Lords! we cannot bear this insufferable tyranny of ice cold drinks teeming with bacteriological weapons.
There has to be an end to this warfare. Think of the CHILDREN.
**********************************************************************
Now onto the serious stuff. Ice maker manufacturers recommend that a complete cleaning several times a year with approved bacterial control agents is necessary for continued safe operation of the ice machines. That means the ice machine is out of service at least a day, sometimes more for just basic cleaning maintenace. Sadly, almost none of the machines that I work around everyday have ever been cleaned per specification. The only ones that were cleaned were empty (broken down) and when they were repaired, they first had to be scrubbed out with soap and water because of the “blooms” of black bacteria growing inside. ICK.
And hospitals are no different. They have ice machines too, and they’ve got badder bugs living in those than most people have in their colons. Where does the contamination come from? Answer: the air…
Now just think about how those hospitalized flu victims that seem to get better (massive antibiotics) while those around them get sick (normally healthy people) …
February 14th, 2006 at 7:33 am
Irate reader says:
Dave Balut’s report on the bacteria in fast-food restaurant ice is the height of irresponsible reporting. Not only does his report fail to present any rebuttal from any of the fast-food restaurants involved, it also fails to put the results into proper perspective. One could reasonably conclude he was intentionally trying to needlessly frighten tens of thousands of your viewers.
I could just as easily report that there is more bacteria in cheese or yogurt than in any freshly flushed toilet. When Ms. Roberts took her toilet sample, she was essentially testing the cleanliness of tap water fresh out of the municipal water system. And when she reports that bacteria levels in the ice were higher, the reporter failed to provide any information about the type of bacteria she found. As any grade school child should know, there is good bacteria and there is bad bacteria. If the bacteria in the restaurant ice is so bad and so widespread, then where are the multitudes of people being made ill by this ice? Where is even one person who was made ill?
These are the same kinds of scare tactics commonly employed by consumer products companies in their advertising to get you to purchase their cleaners and air fresheners. I wouldn’t expect a news organization to subscribe to them, too.
February 14th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Alice says:
“Irate Reader:” we are totally in agreement which is why we concluded with this opinion:
We Say: Before you get all up in arms, keep in mind that she is not a trained scientist and there are a lot of factors and also a lot of things in water that just are part of water - including bacteria. But keeping ice machines clean is something health inspectors test for, and this place may have fallen way behind. But, it’s still scary to have to re-think frozen water.
February 14th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Manda says:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11318353/
The above link goes to a more in depth article about the same experiment, which goes into the types of bacteria found in the ice, namely e.coli. I am not so much bothered by the other reporters neglecting to mention the types of bacteria, but rather no one (as far as the articles I have read have said) has reported any of these restaurants to the health department for having e.coli in their ice. There may be good and bad bacteria but as it is mentioned in the msnbc article, no level of e.coli is acceptable.
February 14th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Manda says:
Ok, I re-read the article and she did go to some “local government agencies” but won’t reveal to the public for “legal reasons” which restaurants have the e.coli bacteria in their ice. I won’t be ordering ice for awhile…
February 14th, 2006 at 12:17 pm
Curtis Edenfield says:
First let me tell you about me, then we can argue!! I am 42 6′tall and weigh 220lbs. I drink and smoke, dabbled with recreational drugs in my past. Over the years I have ingested some pretty nasty things. I get a cold once or twice a year, eat alot of the wrong foods( if it tastes good it’s bad for you).
If you beleive you’ll get sick, then you’ll get sick. There are more hypocondreachs now than ever before. Yes our ancestors lived shorter lives dew to lack of medical technolgy, now we live an average of 73 years or more. The longest I’ve ever had to take antibiotics is 2 weeks for a tooth infection. That’s happened twice in my life. Just because it might have mold or bacteria on it doesn’t mean it’s deadly!! Cheese gets mold on rather easy, just carve the mold off an eat the darn cheese. Most resturants clean all thier equipment ( I mean HARDCORE clean) 2 to 3 times a year!!
Live your Life don’t let life live you.
Curtis
My 2 cents
February 14th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
ValuedCustomer says:
I used to live in Houston where they had (maybe still do) an investigative/consumer reporter news-guy named Marvin Zindler. He’d report on local restaraunts (fast food, fine dinning, all of ‘em) that had recently received bad scores on their health inspections.. his big pet peeve was SLIME IN THE ICE-MACHINE!! seriously, he’d scream it out everytime he saw a health report w/ that notation. - The guy was a whack-job to be sure but the whole city appreciated the heads-up.
February 14th, 2006 at 1:47 pm
Jack says:
When I was a teen, I worked in a couple resturants. A state issued food handler’s permit was required and a bit of sanitation training required to get it. It’s no longer required by law in my state and no one has one (or has ever even heard of it).
Many times, I have seen, The low man on the totempole lugging buckets of ice to the soft drink dispenser. Oh! you say? There is no ice machine on a soda dispenser. That equipment resides in the back and containers of ice have to be filled, with a scoop that was sitting “who knows where” between uses. Those containers sit on the floor when unused; are carried to the front room and set on the serving counter where every customer has touched with their hands, clothes and bottoms of their serving trays (which are merely wiped off between uses with the same crummy rag that is used for cleaning tables, seats and door knobs).
Finally the lid is removed from the ice hopper and set on any convenient spot, which is sometimes the floor, while the bucket of ice is upended into the dispenser. The same hand that tips up the bottom of the bucket is the hand that pushes the mound of ice around so the lid (fresh from it’s journey to the floor) will fit ove the ice and keep it clean. Like it really matters.
I console my self that I have good health insurance.
If I was really worried about my health, I wouldn’t eat fast food anyway so I guess samonella just serves me right.
February 14th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
HoustonGuy says:
I just had to say that Marvin Zindler is alive and well in Houston and still screaming “SLIME IN THE ICE MACHINE!”. His news station even has a song and cartoon for him. Long live Marvin. He is in his 70’s and not shy when it comes to talking about his many face lifts and plastic surgery. He is hell on restaurants. My brother used to manage restaurants and hates his guts.
February 14th, 2006 at 3:00 pm
Tracy says:
I about died when I looked behind the ice dispenser at the hotel last trip- the “filter” (if you could call it that) was a black/blueish green. I can’t believe any water could even get through it.
Inspectors inspect so the gov’t agencies can say they’ve covered their *ss. They don’t really & truly care if you get ill. Insurance co’s pay health effects/costs up front- & it trickles down to the rest of us eventually.
February 14th, 2006 at 5:20 pm
John says:
I have to agree with #8. This article gives us very few specifics. Additionally, I am skeptical about drawing conclusions about bacterial contamination from bacteria after being allowed to grown for several hours in an agar culture. Additionally, take a sample of spittle from your mouth with a toothpick, smear it on a petri dish, and be prepared to be really frightened, if you think that bacteria because it is bacteria is a problem. I also agree with the publishers, however. They did say “Now hold on just a minute…” which most journalists would not do…
February 15th, 2006 at 6:19 am
Curtis Edenfield says:
Inregards to comment #17
If you bothered to listen to your highschool heath or biology teacher you’d know why that bacteria is in your saliva!
February 15th, 2006 at 6:54 am
Bad Attitudes says:
Eau de McDonald’s Anyone?
Too bad the news media didn’t bother to tell us which restaurants, I guess that means all of them, but this should whet your appetite for another Coke at McDonalds — and we knew that kitty was actually living life better than we are. Benito…
February 17th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
Rock says:
No wonder I always catch my dog drinking out of the toilet rather than the fresh ice water I give her daily.
February 18th, 2006 at 5:11 am
Loran says:
I want to congratulate this girl and her parents for actually doing a science project that matters. She reported her findings to the restaurants to give them a chance to clean up their acts. What everyone does not seem to notice is that the children in this family are award winning students. Someone (the child I think) also works as a voluteer with a professor at the University! If she is this smart and investigative now what kind of powerful force for good will she be as an adult? Congratulations to this young lady and her family.
March 1st, 2006 at 2:22 am
Nanc says:
My 22 year old son has had stomach problems for years and has had test down from both ways because of being sick to his stomach. The only thing they can find most of the time is stomach bacteria. AND MY SON IS A FAST FOOD NUT. He eats Harveys and McDonalds ALL THE TIME and I’m hoping this will finally scare him off from eating junk meals because the fountain pop comes with the meal.
March 12th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
Skyjon says:
Sure the numbers may be more - but numbers of what?
The bacteria in the toilet may be a little more nasty than the ones in the ice machine
April 4th, 2006 at 8:06 am
jon says:
I’m doing a project on a similar topic, and have found what I think is strepthroat in one of the ice samples. However, I can’t identify some of the bacteria in some of the other samples.
What kind of bacteria did she find???
April 4th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Licking Your Toilet Seat Is Healthier Than Typing On Your Keyboard
Yan Fortin of RealTechNews writes: According to this study funded by Clorox, keyboards have 265 times more bacteria on them than a toilet seat. I’m pretty lucky that I’m not a hypochondriac because I’d probably be turning quite mad after reading thi…
April 11th, 2006 at 7:41 pm
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July 18th, 2006 at 4:31 am
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September 13th, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Accident Reports says:
i agree
October 27th, 2006 at 9:25 am
ForensicScientist 123 says:
Finally maybe poeple that own resteraunts will take more consideration when they go to clean their soda and ice machines. Ha! What wishful thinking!!!
November 6th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
James says:
I don’t really think that we should worry about any of this. There is no way that we would ever no if this made us sick or not. I have been purchasing drinks with ice from fast food establishments my whole life and have gotten a cold from time to time. Maybe it was from the ice, maybe not.
November 8th, 2006 at 7:06 am
Restaurants says:
i c
November 10th, 2006 at 9:23 am
Glinda Rico says:
the next time I think of getting some ice at the restraunts I get water from the toilet and freeze that instead!
March 12th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
TigressTerry says:
I think that its possible for people to be sick from bad ice, but it not show up for a long time. Maybe the bacteria from the ice will build up and build up in our stomach the more we eat it until we finally show up sick or with cancer. The germs could be in stealth mode until it has built up enough to kick our behind really good. It’s scarry!!!
April 18th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Farrouk says:
I believe in being clean and sanitized, but there is bacteria everywhere we go!! people say “oh would never eat there because its dirty!! when there homes are probably full of even more bacteria than most of the restraunts out there! Most likely the bacteria in the ice machine will probably not kill you!! BACTERIA IS EVERYWHERE!! Lets all chill out, and start worrying about some real problems! People with guns running around killing people! Aids around the world, Global Warming!! Wake up America!!
April 24th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
MG says:
Well that is not surprising since most of the water that comes through our pipes have arsenic and we have to hope that our filters kill off a lot of the arsenic. There is an interesting product called the Ice Wand thats supposed to keep the Ice Machines clean. Why dont they market that moreso and get these restaurants to use that if it works so well.
May 9th, 2007 at 11:34 am
tantano, philip javier says:
can anybody,give me some idea of where to find some journals about bacterias on ice. i direly needed it. thanks
these will be for my research
August 17th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Mom says:
My local water company told me on the phone that if my house/ apartment was older than about ten years, it would be good to let the water run for some minutes before I use it. I do this, then Brita it, then thank God I am still here!! Cheers!
August 19th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Mom says:
PS: I don’t drink anything from a fast food place! The water and the ice is from the places this young student investigated. Then, I quit eating any fast food!
August 19th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
devin pierce says:
i would like some more info about this expirement because i am doing a school science fair project on it!! i am in 8 grade so thats a step up from this girl!!! lol… ha ha
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October 4th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Deshawn Dean says:
thats nasty but im still not drinking toilet water
October 31st, 2007 at 10:47 am
Vista On Current Events says:
Which is cleaner?…
1) A keyboard or toilet seat?
According to this in Real Tech News.
“We don’t think twice about eating at our desks, even though the aver……
November 2nd, 2007 at 2:41 pm
dod says:
can i have the method of the wor
November 19th, 2007 at 5:36 am
Toki Wartooth says:
ITS TOKI WARTOOTH DEATHLOK DETHLOK oh yea
anyways they had a discovery on that in mythbusters so yea drinkin out of a toilet aint goin save ya
April 14th, 2008 at 5:19 am
lkjh poi says:
you all suck
August 14th, 2008 at 7:08 am