Ice on the Side

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Dec 3, 2007 2:00PM

Although the cover story to yesterday's Sun-Times said that diners shouldn't be alarmed, it's hard to not be after reading the sensationalized cover story which listed 21 restaurants whose ice had more bacteria than a toilet in the Sun-Times men's room. A note for downtown workers looking for lunch this afternoon: you may want to buy a bottled drink.

The testing of ice cubes from 49 area restaurants found that the unlucky 21 tested for high levels of bacteria, including three with an "undetermined amount" of fecal coliform. An expert quoted in the article explained that the bacteria levels might explain some of the stomach illnesses that diners sometimes contract. Unsurprisingly, the restaurants cited in the article responded to the Sun-Times that they have the appropriate measure in place to ensure bacteria-free ice, and can't understand how they tested positive.

We wonder how the story might have changed if the Sun-Times decided to use a toilet in the ladies room as the control in the experiment. If you've ever had the pleasure of stepping into the war zone that is a public restroom for women, you'll never forget it.