Ice-cold danger lurking in dram.
Byline: GRACE McLEANTRAVELLERS know that taking ice in their drink while abroad can have devastating health effects.
But few would realise that it's just as risky to cool a dram in Blackpool.
The top holiday destination for Scots emerged as one of the riskiest places to put ice in a drink.
Researchers took 13 samples of water from the town's hotels and found one full of bacteria and two others were suspect.
Of eight ice samples taken, one was found to be potentially harmful, while five others could have contained bacteria.
A survey by Holiday Which? magazine turned up evidence of human or animal dirt in drinking water and ice cubes in France, Spain and Portugal.
Spokesman Roger Lakin said while water standards were generally good, one in five ice cube samples showed evidence of potentially harmful bugs.
He said: "The most likely source of this is staff not washing their hands after they've been to the toilet."
The researchers and microbiologists tested 170 samples of water and ice from rooms, apartments, campsites, bars, cafes and drinking fountains.
The investigation's worst samples were taken abroad, from hotels and bars in Biarritz, France.
In the light of the investigation, Holiday Which? magazine has warned tourists to stick to bottled water and check that ice is served with tongs.
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| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
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| Date: | Sep 11, 2001 |
| Words: | 218 |
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