Half of ice cubes fail health tests

Nearly half the ice cubes used in drinks served in pubs and restaurants are contaminated, according to a report by food safety officers.

The study was carried out in Northamptonshire but officials say there's every reason to believe similar results would be found across Britain.

They found that of 61 samples taken from more than 50 venues in Northamptonshire, 27 contained traces of bacteria and dirt.

Seven of the contaminated specimens contained the potentially fatal E-coli virus while a further nine had traces of bacteria normally found in excrement.

The contamination is likely to be due to poor cleaning of ice machines and ice buckets.

Poor personal hygiene among staff, especially people failing to wash their hands after going to the toilet, has also been blamed.

There are believed to be more than 1,000 ice making machines in use in Northamptonshire alone and experts fear many more could be contaminated.

Study co-ordinator Jon Hall warned: "Food safety officers will be taking this report into account when carrying out inspections.

"It is likely that local authorities will also be taking the information into account when drawing up priority inspection and sampling programmes for 2003-04. We must stress that businesses using ice machines have a responsibility to ensure they are clean."