BEWARE OF ICE: Fast-Food Ice Dirtier Than Toilet Water

> Watch the video....
> http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060220232209990007
>
> ===========
>
> Fast-Food Ice Dirtier Than Toilet Water
> Seventh Grader's Science Project Turns Up Some
> Disturbing Results
>
>
> (Feb. 20) - Jasmine Roberts never expected her
> award-winning middle school science project to get
> so much attention. But the project produced some
> disturbing results: 70 percent of the time, ice from
> fast food restaurants was dirtier than toilet water.
> The 12-year-old collected ice samples from five
> restaurants in South Florida -- from both self-serve
> machines inside the restaurant and from drive-thru
> windows. She then collected toilet water samples
> from the same restaurants and tested all of them for
> bacteria at the University of South Florida.
>
> In several cases, the ice tested positive for E.
> coli bacteria, which comes from human waste and has
> been linked to several illness outbreaks across the
> country.
>
> "These [bacteria] don't belong there," said Dr.
> David Katz, medical contributor to "Good Morning
> America." "It's not cause for panic, although it is
> alarming because what she found is nothing new.
> You're not more likely to get sick now. But she's
> done us a favor by sounding the alarm."
>
> Both Roberts and Katz said that the ice is likely
> dirtier because machines aren't cleaned and people
> use unwashed hands to scoop ice. Toilet water is
> also surprisingly bacteria-free, because it comes
> from sanitized city water supplies.
>
> Support From Big Brother
>
> Roberts got interested in the project after reading
> a newspaper article about bacteria in airplane water
> and decided to do something similar. Plus, she said,
> all of her friends chew on ice, and it drives her
> crazy.
>
> "I just picked the not-obvious choice," the seventh
> grader said of her project.
>
> Her 18-year-old brother, Justus, is also an
> award-winning science fair veteran who said he has
> encouraged his little sister's interest in science.
>
> Justus said when Jasmine told him her idea for this
> project, "I gave her a high five, then said, 'You're
> a strange little kid.' But I supported her all the
> way."
>
> The restaurants also have taken notice of Roberts'
> project. Two began new sanitary polices and have
> asked her to come back and do her tests again.
>
> "First they appreciated the project," she said. "And
> one location even asked me to come back and test the
> temperature of their food."
>
>
> 02-20-06 23:30 EST
>

 

oops . . . sowwy

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