What's going on with ice at our favourite coffee shops and fast-food chains?
After so-called "poo bacteria" was found in the ice used in Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero's iced drinks last month , experts have made more grotesque discoveries on the high street.
And this time, it's exposed the holy fast-food trinity - McDonald's, KFC and Burger King.
According to the Liverpool Echo , scientists have discovered faecal bacteria in the ice served at all three fast-food joints. Eww.
Ice was sampled at 10 random McDonald's, KFC and Burger King branches across the UK to test for coliforms, indicating whether products have been contaminated by the bacteria.
The investigation followed shocking revelations raised by BBC Watchdog three weeks ago, which uncovered similarly grim levels of faecal bacteria on ice samples at three high street coffee brands.
The findings go against water standards set by DEFRA, which advises the bacteria should not be present in water used for human consumption.
The acceptable level for this type of bacteria in drinking water is zero, however results from our three favourite fast food chains are worryingly higher than this.
KFC rated the worse, with scientists finding the coliforms in seven out of 10 ice samples.
Burger King followed with six out of 10 samples featuring "poo bacteria" and last but not least, it was also found in ice at three out of 10 McDonald's branches.
Four of the samples taken at Burger King and five at KFC were described as having “significant” levels of bacteria.
Head of policy and education at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health Tony Lewis the results were "extremely worrying."
"When we’re finding the sorts of numbers we’re finding here, you have to look at the people making the ice, handling the ice, which they then transfer into customers’ drinks," he said.
"And then you also have to look at hygiene failure with potentially the machines themselves: are they being kept clean?"
So what have the three chains said?
KFC
A spokesman for KFC said: "We are shocked and extremely disappointed by these results.
"We have strict procedures for the management and handling of ice, including daily and weekly inspections and cleaning of the ice machine and storage holds, as well as the routine testing of ice quality across our business.
"We immediately shut down the ice machines in the restaurants affected to conduct a thorough clean and inspection, and reinforced the importance of adhering to our strict procedures to all employees."
It was added: "The restaurants all have an Environmental Health Officer (EHO) hygiene rating of four or five out of five.
"We are awaiting the results of independent testing of the ice that will confirm they are back up to the standards we expect.
"To reassure customers, we have also inspected and cleaned the ice machines in all other restaurants across the UK."
McDonald's
A spokesman for McDonald’s said: "We have robust procedures in place with regard to the production, storage and handling of ice in our UK restaurants.
"Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people and we will continue to review our procedures and training, working closely with our restaurant teams to ensure those procedures are adhered to at all times.
"Hygiene and safety practices are of the utmost importance to us and we’re proud that 99% of our restaurants have an independent hygiene rating of either good or very good.
"Like many UK food retailers, our ice is made by freezing drinking water using commercial ice machines.
"As the investigation highlights, there are no specific ice production standards in place, only those relating to unfrozen drinking water. We would therefore welcome the introduction of an agreed standard and would be happy to work with relevant industry bodies."
Burger King
A Burger King spokesman said: "Cleanliness and hygiene are a top priority for the Burger King brand.
"The strict procedures we have in place are designed to ensure all Guests have a positive experience each time they visit our restaurants.
"We are proactively working with our franchisees in the U.K. to reinforce these procedures.
"This report is an opportunity for us to emphasise our training procedures and ensure all operations and safety standards are upheld in all Burger King restaurants."
