Testing has revealed excessive coliform bacteria on ice cubes used in different fast food shops.
Six in ten samples of edible ice cubes collected from ten stores with fast food chains and tested by an accredited laboratory contained excessive coliform bacteria, according to an investigation conducted by Apple Daily.
The fast food stores included McDonald’s, Maxim’s MX, KFC, Café de Carol and Fairwood.
Coliform bacteria on the ice-cube samples collected from KFC in Town Center in Fanling in the New Territories was 1.7 times the limit set by the Center for Food Safety’s Microbiological Guidelines for Food, while McDonald’s in the same shopping mall was 1.1 times the excessive bacteria level.
According to the guideline, the microbiological criteria for coliform bacteria for loose edible ice at retail outlets should be less than 100 colony-forming units per 100ml.
Samples collected from Maxim’s MX in Tsuen Wan Plaza and Fanling MTR station contained 50% and 20% more bacteria than the maximum limit respectively, while the Café de Carol store in Citywalk in Tsuen Wan and Fairwood at the Regentville mall in Fanling also found excessive bacteria on the ice cube samples.
The Center for Food Safety has said it will investigate cases allegedly over proper levels.
Meanwhile, the five fast-food chains all responded that they were very concerned about the results – so, thorough cleaning and disinfection had been carried out.
Call me kuripot, but i’d rather have my baon and most especially my coffee with me which i usually do every day off.
Should it be Cafe de Coral? Just wondering…because my Cantonese Teacher pronounce the same as spelled Cafe de Carol. No mean to harm.