How Dirty Is Ice in Drinks? Now You Know the Truth...

The temperature has been over 40 degrees Celsius lately, and you're almost going to melt in the heat when you go out. At this time, a glass of iced drink can always save you from the fire.

Why do iced drinks taste so good? On the one hand, low temperatures can enhance the tongue’s perception of sweetness[1]. On the other hand, if fructose is used in the drink, low temperatures can increase the sweetness of the fructose, making the iced drink taste sweeter.

However, while you are enjoying the coolness, there is an even more chilling news to tell you - the ice in your drink may actually be quite dirty.

Food safety incidents caused by unclean ice in beverages

Other studies have found that the total number of colonies in milk tea with ice is significantly higher than that in milk tea without ice .

Image source: Reference [2]

What makes ice in drinks so dirty?

Possible contamination pathways for beverage ice

When it comes to ice cubes, we usually think it is relatively clean because in our simple concept, low temperature is not conducive to the reproduction of bacteria and viruses.

However, the fact is that there are many ways for ice cubes used in beverages to be contaminated , not just limited to whether there are bacteria and viruses in the water used to make ice cubes. It can even be said that there are many reasons for ice cube contamination that you can't imagine.

1. The water source for making ice is unsanitary

In order to ensure the hygiene and safety of ice cubes, according to the provisions of the National Food Safety Standard for Frozen Beverages and Ingredients (GB 2759-2015), ice-making water should be sterilized and safe drinking water . However, not every business is willing to spend money and time to select qualified ice-making water.

If there are microorganisms in the ice-making water , there is a high probability that the total number of bacteria in the ice produced will exceed the standard and there will be pathogenic bacteria or viruses. Although low temperature is not conducive to the reproduction of microorganisms, it does not necessarily kill existing microorganisms. When consumers eat pathogenic microorganisms in ice cubes, the microorganisms will begin to reproduce in their bodies and eventually cause illness.

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2. Ice making, ice transport and storage equipment are contaminated

If the exterior and interior of the ice machine are not cleaned and disinfected regularly as required , it is easy for dirt to accumulate.

At the same time, we see that many businesses often leave ice containers open for easy access, which greatly increases the risk of contamination by bacteria and other microorganisms, and even cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, etc.

At the same time, if the containers for transporting ice cubes and the ice shovels are not stored properly or are not cleaned and disinfected in time, contaminants can easily be introduced into the ice cubes.

3. The ice cubes are not edible

Although this situation is rare, there have been news reports that some unscrupulous merchants used ice cubes for storing fish, shrimp and seafood as beverage ice cubes in order to "make the best use of it". This kind of ice cubes may contain bacteria, viruses, parasites, etc., which is extremely dangerous.

Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that ice in drinks is dirty.

When we buy drinks, we sincerely recommend not adding ice, which not only protects our health and safety, but also allows us to drink more drinks. After all, adding ice to drinks will definitely take up a lot of space (adding more ice and less drinks, the merchants are smart enough).

When ordering milk tea, you will often see the message "less ice (not full cup)"

What should I do if the ice in my drink is so dirty and I still want to drink it cold?

Although adding ice has risks, some friends still want to drink ice-cold drinks because of habit and preference. How can this problem be solved?

On the one hand, we can try to minimize the food safety risks of iced drinks, and on the other hand, we can also collect some tips to make drinks taste good even without ice.

To reduce the chance of eating contaminated ice, you can do this :

1. Make your own ice cubes at home

Make your own ice cubes at home, carry ice cubes in a thermos when you go out, and add them to the drinks you buy.
As long as you pay attention to the cleaning and disinfection of utensils, homemade ice cubes can ensure that the water used to make ice is clean and hygienic, and the storage and transportation processes are safe, but it is more troublesome, time-consuming and labor-intensive.

2 Choose a store that appears to have better hygiene

When buying iced drinks, pay attention to whether the store's ice containers are clean and sealed ; whether the store clerks wear disposable gloves when taking ice, whether the ice shovels are stored in clean and hygienic special containers , etc. Choose a store that does a relatively good job in these aspects.

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If you want to make your drink taste good without ice, you can do this :

1 Add a few mint leaves

The menthol in lotus can stimulate the cold receptors on the nerve endings of the human body, making people feel the loss of heat and feel more refreshed.

2. Add sweet fruits to increase sweetness

Since low temperature can increase the refreshing feeling by increasing the sweetness, we can certainly add some sweet fruits, such as grapes, watermelons, etc. , to the drink to improve the taste. Although it is not icy enough, it is delicious enough.

A little trick: quickly cool down drinks without adding ice cubes

If it is not convenient to buy refrigerated drinks, you can try wrapping the drink with a wet paper towel or towel and putting it in the freezer . You can quickly get a chilled drink in a few minutes.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

Looking back on our childhood, we didn’t have the conditions to drink ice drinks often, but eating the big watermelons that my mother soaked in a basin of cold water and the peaches washed in well water, accompanied by a glass of boiled water, could also quench our thirst and relieve the heat.

Nowadays, we have the conditions to drink a variety of cool drinks, so we should try to make them both cool and healthy.

References

[1]Cruz, A., Green, B. Thermal stimulation of taste. Nature 403, 889–892 (2000).

[2] Yang Lu, Zhao Aifei, Zhu Junli. Investigation and analysis of microbial content in commercial milk tea drinks[J]. Anhui Agricultural Sciences, 2015(1):251-253,304.

Planning and production

Author: Wang Lu, Chinese registered nutritionist, Master of Public Health, Peking University

Review｜Chen Ran, Associate Research Librarian (Science Communication) / Senior Engineer, COFCO Nutrition and Health Research Institute