Customers at KFC restaurants in China might be ready to go with iceless drinks, after a new report found that the cubes at Beijing locations are apparently filled with 13 times more bacteria than toilet water. Other fast food outlets also underwent testing, including McDonald’s and a Chinese chain, but KFC had the worst results of the bunch.

According to reporters from China Central Television (via the New York Daily News), there were 900 colony-forming units of bacteria per millileter, above the national limit of 100 CFU. By 800, if I’m doing the math correctly, which in this one instance I feel fairly confident I am.

This could pose health problems like dysentery and diarrhea, say experts, and can likely be blamed on dirty ice machines, unsterilized equipment and a lack of food safety measures. Yet another reason employees need to wash hands while singing “Happy Birthday” through twice.

It’s worth noting that the report doesn’t say what kind of bacteria is in the water, just that there’s more of whatever it is than is in a toilet.

“The [headline] might be a little eye-grabbing, but it’s not that useful — for instance, the bacteria count on your teeth or on the bottom of your shoe is about the same,” said one food expert. “Instead you should look at which actual bacteria types exceeded levels.”

CCTV says KFC (and its parent, Yum! Brands) and the other chains apologized and have pledged to boost their sterilization procedures.

(H/T to Digital Journal)

Ice cubes at Chinese KFC, McDonald’s contain more bacteria than toilet water: report [New York Daily News]

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