Friday, June 13, 2008

e.coli iced tea, anyone?

saw this from good morning america and thought it was interesting coz me and my friends (of course the adiks) have been frequenting local franchises of these restaurants for some time now.

the report showed a study conducted by gma on lemons served with the drinks – specially iced tea – on six outlets of three familiar names : friday’s, applebees and chili’s in the new jersey area. and you know what? they found something really dreadful – swabs from the lemons reveal dangerous bacteria that could easily make us sick.

according to the report, the fecal matter was found at both applebees and friday’s restaurants. and at applebee’s in clifton n.j., they found e coli. chili’s two restaurants showed negative result on harmful bodies though their lemons are still infested with yeast and harmless bacteria normally found on fruits and vegetables.

worse, the report showed workers of the restaurants picking up lemons with their bare hands. an undeniable indication that fast food is really that – food that is being prepared and handled haphazardly and can get us sick, fast!

statements have been issued by these restaurants to counter the report. though i found these statements frivolous. they should’ve prevented something like this in the first place.

whenever i order iced tea in any restaurant, i just squeeze the lemon and discard it. never did i put the lemon slice into the drink itself. that might have reduced my risk. though i really have no control if the lemon comes already swimming in the drink i was served. and that’s what’s really worrying.

lemon or no lemon however, i’ve always been suspicious of what’s goin on in the kitchen of these restaurants. be it cheap or classy and expensive restaurants, we really can not control how our food is being handled. who would know if the chef picked his nose before picking up that piece of steak. or if the guy making our burger just doesn’t wash his hands whenever he goes to the toilet.

this report is really disturbing because if it happens in the states where there is supposedly a very stringent rule on sanitation in food chains, what more in other countries like here or the philippines or anywhere else?

i hope these food chains shape up and be more responsible. afterall, it is their reputation at stake here. they wouldn’t want one lawsuit to expose what’s goin on in their kitchens. besides, i’m paying, expensive it maybe, to get some nourishment. not to catch some e coli.

to see the full report go to

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Naku sana di damay yung ice tea sa wendy's at ice tea sa tokyo tokyo yung pa naman ang favorite ice tea ko sa dami ng natutuklasan ngayon di mo na tuloy kung anong kakainin mo pero kung talagang oras mo na eh wala ka ng magagawa eh di ba yung anak ni mayor abalos na teen ager nagpunta ng divisoria namili e.coli din ang kinamatay dahil yata me nakain sa karne sa isang food restaurant sa divisoria.

Dante said...

korek ka dyan anonymous... naalala ko nga yon. di na yata na-trace kung saan nya nakuha yon no. hay naku, kami nga nadadalas naman sa hardees lalo pa ako nakaka-dalawang portobello mushroom burger... grabe, takaw ko! heheheee

Anonymous said...

The lemon handled with bare hands? What about the tea leaves in the tea itself? Those are all picked and processed with bare hands in 3rd world countries, and since they are immediately dried there is no cleaning and washing them after the handling of them with bare hands. How come no one talks about that?

Also, do you know how much of that stuff is in the burger itself directly from the animals intestines? You think humans hands are dirty - nothing compared to that. The levels tested are very high! GROSS!