When you think of getting sick after dining at a restaurant, you probably conjure up images of accidentally taking a bite of some raw chicken or enjoying a somewhat undercooked hamburger. Unfortunately, the restaurant’s food isn’t the only thing you should worry about when it comes to your health. Germs living in the ice machine can contaminate your drink, leading to potentially life-threatening illnesses. This post will cover the dangers of dirty ice and why ice machine maintenance in Delaware is so important:
- Sick patrons: E. coli, norovirus and toxic mold are just a few of the nasty things that can survive (and even thrive) in a dirty ice machine. The second a waiter fills up a glass with this contaminated ice, the germs put your patrons’ health on the line. Sadly, there have been cases where restaurant-goers have died from gastrointestinal issues after drinking a contaminated beverage.
- Lawsuits: As with any sickness or death, lawsuits are sure to follow. In 2002, a restaurant had to pay a $3 million settlement after a boy died from drinking a soda containing tainted ice—and that $3 million doesn’t even account for all of the lawyer fees the restaurant surely had to pay. At the end of the day, your restaurant simply can’t afford to operate a dirty ice machine.
- News coverage: Local and even national news stories will follow after someone gets dangerously sick from drinking a beverage with contaminated ice. One of the last things you want as a restaurateur is news cameras in your restaurant and reporters standing outside telling potentially millions of people about how dirty your ice is.
What can be done to prevent these issues?
If there’s any good news, it’s that avoiding the problems above isn’t all that difficult. Follow these simple steps below, and your ice should be germ- and disease-free:
- Schedule professional maintenance: The best way to ensure your ice is clean as can be is to have our team come to inspect your machine. We’ll send someone out right away to pore over your equipment and check to make sure that the ice is clean and the machine is running efficiently.
- Sanitize your machine: By law, ice machines need to be cleaned at the frequency recommended by the manufacturer. Obviously, this depends on who made your ice machine, but that usually means it needs to be cleaned two to four times per year. Be sure to follow all of the steps for cleaning listed in the manufacturer’s guide, as this is the only way to ensure the machine will be clean.
- Check for mold: You can’t see the microscopic bacteria growing in your ice machine, but you can certainly spot any black mold. Make a habit of checking to see if there’s anything growing in your ice machine, and clean it right away if that’s the case.
Don’t wait one more day to schedule ice machine maintenance in Delaware! Our team members at Commercial Equipment Service Inc. can perform a complete overhaul of your ice machine to ensure that it’s free and clear from any type of contaminants. Additionally, your ice machine will work better than ever after we stop by for a maintenance check!