Ice cubes

[nonnaB 4,900]

Whats this I hear about ice cubes in bars, restaurants and pubs being contaminated by faecal matter in UK.

It was on Italian news this afternoon. Missed most of it but ice making machines were apparently safe.

[radfordred 6,284]

Blimey of all the horrible nasty things happening in the the world? Must have been a slack news day in the boot? Ice cubes ... shoot me now  

 

As kids in Sidney Pearson Hill School playground we would follow anyone around who was fortunate enough to be eating an apple & fight over the core!    

[nonnaB 4,900]

More interesting than politics, crime, soaps and the weather. Its interesting to find out what is happening in the rest of the world. Unlike UK we do hear whats happening. Surprising what we do hear. I for one am glad this has cropped up but as I dont drink iced drinks it doesnt affect me . But to be brought onto other countries news , it must be bad and quite common.

Dont suppose any of us would wish to be contaminated by having icecubes in their G&T.

I'm not being flippant about all the terrible things happening in the world . 

Italy has had its share of  Tragedies including all the clandestine boats that come over when half the occupants drown , children left with parents, new born babies drowned. These people are fleeing from wars and fammine and are  trying to get some meaning back into their lives. They have nowhere to live. Italy is doing what it can to relocate these people but when the country accepts 2/3 thousand people every day.......can you imagine the state of us.

This is the type of news we hear every day , its so sad. I am aware that maybe kids chased the luckier one to finish the apple core, but did that hit the news. .

Earth quakes will always be news everywhere but we hear about the aftermath doubt other countries do. It may seem a trivial news item about contaminated icecubes but as a lot of italians travel to the UK I think RAI 

was wise to point it out.

[radfordred 6,284]

Just a thought surely if we had contaminated ice cubes then everyone would be ingesting contaminated liquids? Coffee, tea, soup, even the water we wash our  fruit & veg? Unless we all start using distilled water! What a load of baloney  the only place I do not drink the tap water is outside the UK.  

[catfan 14,793]

It's a well known fact that ice cubes can easily be contaminated unlike hot drinks tea, coffee etc where the water is boiled first.

Water quality is good in the UK, think of those poor sods in countries like Africa who have to walk miles to collect water & then is very questionable whether is water is safe to drink or not, I know which one I prefer.

[plantfit 7,630]

But it always puzzles me why they didn't build their villages closer to the water supply/stream/river

 

Rog

[nonnaB 4,900]

Dont they warn you in spain and spanish islands not to add ice cubes to drinks.

I only commented on this and thought it very strange especially in the UK. It certainly wasnt a headline but in an afternoon programme that makes the public aware what is happening everywhere not just in Italy. Years ago our water was a bit not iffy but not nice to drink. Nothing wrong with it but its very common for us to drink bottled water. I use bottled for making tea and its not good but for coffee its great. I also use it for making soups whilst still using tap water. We have a well and one day was watering the plants with a pump from the well and a couple out running stopped and asked for some water. Sure we said and turned to get a bottle and a couple of glasses. They wouldnt hear of it they wanted the well water and told us years previously they always drank the water from our well. We keep saying we will get it analysed but its too convenient to buy bottles. Sound expensive when we buy 20-30 cases at a time but its a lot cheaper than in UK.

[Brew 5,423]

I think this advice falls into the same category as the bar peanuts warning.

'Don't eat peanuts or nibbles from the little dish on the bar because some people haven't washed their hands after going to the toilet'

[benjamin1945 16,181]

Brew, you just me right off me lovely tapas, 

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

The UKs potable water supply is one of, if not the best in the world, fact. If ice cubes are contaminated it has happened after the water left the tap.

 

Our major problem is the miles of lead pipe laid in the Victorian era and still in use and that problem is only in soft water areas where there is no scale build up.

[LizzieM 9,514]

This topic was on Watchdog last week.  The contamination is caused by bar staff and coffee shop employees not washing their hands after going to the toilet.  I personally find that disgusting especially when working in the catering industry.  Brew is right about peanuts and nibbles on pub bars but we should also avoid unwrapped mints in restaurants.   

[NewBasfordlad 3,599]

And no licking your mates sucker either.

[FLY2 10,109]

And a bowl of sugared almonds that you dip into when leaving a restaurant. I NEVER touch such things. I even open toilet doors with my sleeve after washing my hands.

[nonnaB 4,900]

Just a matter of interest. Do public toilets in UK have flushes where you use your foot to flush and automatic taps and dryers ( driers) . I think the problem is with doors, I always open with my elbow and shoulder. Same as going down or up escalators, I never rest my hand on rail. But then theres shopping trolleys again use my forearm. Besides them being maybe contaminated they are often sticky. So plenty of wet wipes in handbag. Oh dear it makes me seem finicky but Im sure I wont catch anything when I tour the shops. 

[FLY2 10,109]

It amazes me in deli's and cake shops where the staff wear those blue rubber gloves to handle food, then touch your money and give change with the same gloves. Unreal !

[nonnaB 4,900]

I agree Fly. There are probably more germs on the gloves than on their hands.

In our butchers shops there is always someone taking money so they dont touch the meat. 

[radfordred 6,284]

You take your life in hands if you ever complain & send a meal back in a pub/restaurant, I refuse to eat it no replacement knock it off the bill, you only get one chance if you can't get it right don't bother. 

[plantfit 7,630]

The things we worry about these days, I remember fetching fire lighters,cooked ham,bread and biscuits as a kid from the same shop served by the same person who didn't wash their hands or wear gloves between each of the items they might have wiped thier hand on their apron,but thats about all, and I'm still here (I think)

 

Rog

[Jill Sparrow 10,316]

Auntie Emily of Garden Street had a favourite saying: You'll have to eat a peck of muck before you die.

 

A peck is a substantial amount, although we don't use that measurement today. Emily was from farming stock and first in the queue when it came to picking the fruits of the hedgerows, from which she made wine, jams and preserves. She never owned a fridge and today's shrink wrapped, sell by dated produce would bemuse her. Her motto was 'waste not, want not' and it's also mine. She lived to the age of 88, so she must have been doing something right!

[Cliff Ton 10,479]

Similar problem arises if you are in your own home and something you are eating drops on the floor; would you pick it up and continue to eat it, or automatically throw it away ?

 

 

[Jill Sparrow 10,316]

I wonder whether any of this troubled the thoughts of the night soil operatives as they ate their sandwiches in between emptying people's privies in the days before flush toilets? 

[EileenH 496]

Hmmm - if it's a dry something, like a biscuit, I might give it a bit of a swipe with me sleeve. Wet something, like a slice of apple, I'd probably run it under the tap.

[EileenH 496]

Jill (#21) I remember my dad talking about how things were down the pit. They had to use any convenient space if they were caught short and there was no running water to wash. Their snap came out and was eaten with the same hands. He'd tell a yeuky tale of a fellow miner who complained about the smell all through the shift and found out that he'd got a smear of somebody's faecal deposit on his moustache. (I know. Lowered the tone. Sorry. I'll get me coat.)

[Cliff Ton 10,479]

A hypothetical case. 

 

You are walking along the street and you see a bar or packet of something lying on the pavement; it is clearly still sealed in its wrapper, unopened. Would you pick it up and eat it ?

[Jill Sparrow 10,316]

Yes, Eileen, I've heard the same. I think we've become obsessed with cleaning the living daylights out of our environment and I do wonder if there's a connection with all these allergies children seem to have these days.