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You’ve heard stories about restaurant ice harboring more bacteria than toilet water. By news accounts, the stories are at least sometimes true. That it’s only water — and kept cold — doesn’t mean it can’t bestow a little food poisoning. It does mean someone didn’t follow protocol (see sidebar). And the same thing could easily happen at your house.
If you don’t think so, consider these situations:
- A busy cook pauses in food preparation to break ice cubes out of the tray and drop them into guest glasses.
- A child pets the dog, then pops a glass-worth of ice out of the tray or bin. He contaminates
other cubes in the process — and leaves them in the freezer for the next unsuspecting customer. - A small-time daredevil reaches into the automatic dispenser to break up an ice cube jam by hand — spreading whatever bacteria is present on that hand.
Infection Prevention Basics
The ultimate culprit is almost guaranteed to be unwashed hands, or hands not washed nearly well enough. You know you should wash hands before touching anything to do with the ice. But did you know that a thorough job will take about 20 seconds?
A few precautions in addition to hand washing will help protect the chill supply:
- Keep hands out of the ice. If you don’t have an automatic dispenser on your refrigerator, offer a clean scoop in a clean dish near the freezer, cooler or tabletop bowl (for example, at parties). Cover the bowl with plastic and keep the cooler shut as much as possible.
- Regularly send dishwasher-safe ice paraphernalia through a heated, sanitizing dish cycle if your machine boasts one.
- Sanitize non-dishwasher-safe items — such as an insulated cooler — with a disposable germicidal wipe. Rinse well, dry with a clean cloth and allow to air dry completely.
- When cleaning the kitchen, don’t neglect the cubby area and drip grate of the automatic ice dispenser, if you have one.
- For occasional problems with your refrigerator’s icemaker, such as ice jams or discolored cubes, consult the owner’s manual. In addition to offering solutions, it will probably tell you not to put your hand near the mechanisms when the fridge is running anyway — forget the bacteria; you don’t want an injury.
Ice Guidelines for Healthier Beverages: Created on December 17th, 2007. Last Modified on January 21st, 2014
