Here's why you might want to avoid drinks from fast food chains

Woman eating McDonalds
Not what you wanted to hear after the other day’s snacking [Photo: Pexels]

Our hopes have never been that high as to what’s actually in our favourite fast food.

But the drinks? At least they’ve always been safe territory.

Until now.

Thanks to contaminated ice, faecal bacteria has been found in several popular fast food chains’ drinks.

Researchers at BBC Watchdog found evidence of faecal coliforms from beverages bought from UK branches of KFC, McDonald’s and Burger King.

drink
That Diet Coke seemed so harmless [Photo: Pexels]

In case you were wondering, coliforms are an indicator of something infected in this way.

To get these results, the researchers tested ice from 10 random branches of each establishment from across the UK and found coliforms in ice at three out of ten McDonald’s branches, six in Burger King and a whopping seven at KFC.

A spokesperson for KFC told the Liverpool Echo: “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.

Icy drink
Contaminated ice is the culprit [Photo: Pexels]

“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.”

They added: “To reassure customers, we have also inspected and cleaned the ice machines in all other restaurants across the UK.”

While a McDonald’s spokesperson 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.”

Burger
Burgers are the innocent ones in this affair [Photo: Pexels]

And a Burger King representative also told the paper:

“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.”

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