KFC launches investigation after faecal bacteria found on ice

It has been revealed that an undercover researcher for BBC’s Rip Off Britain was served ice that had faecal bacteria on it at a KFC in Birmingham.

Investigating food hygiene standards, researchers for the programme visited various branches of several big-name takeaways and coffee shops. The researchers asked for a cup of tap water with ice, as this can be an indicator of hygiene standards behind the scenes.

Dr Margarita Gomez Escalada, who examined the results at Leeds Beckett University, told Rip Off Britain: “The presence of faecal coliform suggests that there’s faecal contamination either on the water that made the ice, or the ice itself, and so it increases the risk of getting sick from consuming this ice.”

KFC “extremely disappointed”

According to Rip Off Britain, the KFC branch in question had been closed temporarily closed only weeks before the sample was taken for a ‘deep clean’ following a zero hygiene rating. In a statement, KFC told the programme it was “extremely disappointed” by the test results and said it takes “food safety and hygiene extremely seriously. KFC said it had launched an investigation in to the matter and that it had implementing “a retraining programme with all team members”.

Angela Rippon, the presenter of Rip Off Britain, said the investigation highlighted the importance of hygiene ratings labels.The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland helps consumers choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving them information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, takeaways and food shops. The scheme is run by local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in partnership with the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Local authorities are responsible for carrying out inspections of food businesses to check that they meet the requirements of food hygiene law. They give businesses food hygiene ratings based on the findings of inspections and then publish this information on the FSA website.