Hygiene alert over preparing ice as 30pc of food businesses fail test

Microbiologists from the Health Protection Agency’s food, water and environmental laboratory in Leeds found poor practice in 30 per cent of samples tested in visits to coffee shops, hotels, pubs, restaurants and supermarkets across Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

Ice is commonly used as coolant but the study of 88 samples uncovered signs of poor hygiene during production, storage or use, with one even finding signs of contamination by E.coli bacteria.

Study author Judith Tapper said: “The main way to ensure that ice is fit to use in food and drink is to ensure that it comes from a safe drinking water source and that all machines and utensils or ‘scoops’ are cleaned thoroughly and regularly with the correct solutions – and also replaced as necessary.

“In the home, people should ensure any ice trays used repeatedly are washed thoroughly on a regular basis and that ice is not stored for long periods before use.

“Proprietors should also ensure that ice water is fresh and not left in machines or buckets for long periods of time. We should remember that water can become stagnant after a while and the same applies to ice.”

Co-author John Piggott said: “The results of the study varied greatly between the premises surveyed, with most of the unsatisfactory samples taken from ice machines and the utensils used to serve ice.”

Premises shown to have ice of unsatisfactory quality were revisited and further advice given until the necessary improvements in practice were made.