Can Your Ice Make Your Customers Sick?

Did you know that microbial growth can cause biofilm or “slime” buildup inside commercial ice-making machines?

Cleaning the ice machine seems to be on everyone’s “one of these days” list. Unfortunately, waiting to maintain your machine can inadvertently lead to sick customers.

Ice Machines that are not cleaned regularly can cause the spread of nasty germs like Salmonella, E. coli, Shigella, and the Norwalk virus.

In one incident alone, over 5,000 people fell ill from the norovirus after consuming contaminated ice.

Just because ice is frozen, doesn't mean it cannot contain harmful bacteria or viruses. You can get very sick from contaminated ice.

In fact, at the University of Texas, Salmonella, E. coli, and Shigella all survived in a study of ice cubes mixed with a cola drink, scotch and water, or 85 proof tequila! Viruses also survive in ice cubes, so our food borne illness leader, the noroviruses (the famous Norwalk virus), can wreak havoc in the frozen crystals. Click here to read more.

Samples from nearly 50 restaurants and hotel bars in Chicago (Dec 2007), found nearly 20 percent had high levels of fecal contamination. Water samples taken from a restroom toilet showed less bacterial contamination than the ice from 21 of the restaurants and bars sampled. Click here to read more.

When ice machines are inspected, it is clear that many are not cleaned and sanitized very often, if ever. Mold and slime build up inside them, bacteria grows and your ice becomes contaminated. Numerous studies show that dirty ice is more common than people think.

So the bottom line is: clean that machine!