Lemon slices that could make you sick

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Mar 10th 2008 @ 10:03AM

When you go out to eat, it's often the case that the water, iced tea or soda you order comes with a wedge of lemon perched on the rim of the glass. However, according to the research done by scientists at New Jersey's Passaic County Community College, you could be endangering your health by dropping that lemon slice into your glass.

They sampled 76 lemon wedges from 21 different restaurants and found that nearly 70% produced some form of microbial growth in the lab. In total, they were able to find 25 different forms of bacteria and yeasts on the sampled lemon wedges. It is not known what effect this is having on the consumers who come into contact with these contaminated lemon wedges, however, it could be causing problems for people who have weakened immune systems.

(Oops, we seem to have posted about this just a few weeks ago. Please excuse the duplication)!

[via Dr. Mercola]

Source

Filed Under: Science, Ingredients, Fast Food
Tags: bacteria, contamination, Dr. Mercola, fruit, illness, lemon slices, LemonSlices, Passaic County Community College

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-10-2008 @11:09AM Michael Schmitt said... Those lemon slices don't have any more or less microbes on it than an apple or any other edible fruit. As a matter of fact, there are probably more bacteria on your hands RIGHT NOW after handling the mouse and keyboard than there are on the rind of a properly handled fruit.
The website is an interesting one as Dr. Mercola DOES say that a person with a normal immune system will probably be able to handle the bacteria, but he goes on to talk about foods having "toxic unknowns like high-fructose corn syrup, preservatives and MSG."
Not really sure of what to believe from this website, but it seems that this is a scare tactic more than a health problem.
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3-10-2008 @11:19AM Tom C said... I am a bit suspicious of any "science" where they have trouble with simple fractions. "... 77% or two out of three..." Really?

Three out of four high-shcool students could do better than that.
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3-10-2008 @11:34AM noza said... Hmm... you know, I think if I took a piece of chicken and put it in a petri dish and watched it for a few days, I imagine that IT TOO would create a fuzzy little colony of microscopic friends.

This is news how?
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3-10-2008 @11:44AM Elias said... Even Snopes has given their take on this one:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/lemon.asp
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3-10-2008 @12:02PM beerorkid said... I worked at 3 bars and a restaurant and know the evil of bar fruit very well. There are a bunch of factors that make bar fruit absolutely disgusting which I thought you might want to know.

* bar fruit containers are usually gifts from a liquor distributor and made of pretty cheap materials. usually 4-8 departments for stuff. They are a pain to clean so it probably does not happen that often.

* Most of the fruit is considered pretty safe at room temp so potential growth of nasties is hardly hampered. Acidic citrus, salty olives, preservative filled cherries. Rarely will a fruit caddy be filled with ice to slow down growth.

* Servers and bartenders are not going to use tongs or gloves to grab what they need. Most items are in a liquid of some sort which the fingers dip in to grab the fruit. We are talking maybe 20 times an hour a hand that has touched lots of really gross stuff without being cleaned are in that juice or fruit tray.

* A place I worked at would rinse the fruit left over from the day before with soda water during set up. Soda water is not magical at removing bacteria.

* The slime on fruit is gross, really gross after 12 hours or so. Your waiter or bartender really does not care about it either.
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3-10-2008 @2:43PM LM said... I seem to have missed this a few weeks ago so I am glad that you posted it again. The comments from "beerorkid" above are really telling. I am sure this happens in any establishment where raw fruit or veggie are sitting out in the open, being dipped into with ungloved hands and not on ice. I certainly don't need that slice of lemon in my water. Salads are a different matter though. Any advice?
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3-10-2008 @2:32PM Colin said... I can't believe you're republishing this 'research'. There's no scientific method here, no hypothesis, analysis, conclusion, etc. Nothing in this 'report' says that there's any more bacteria on a lemon wedge then on any other surface. A new low for Slashfood.
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3-10-2008 @5:07PM haida said... I also missed this the first time, so I’m glad that I saw it today. I eat out a lot and though I don’t consider myself germ-phobic, I do have a basic rule: try to eat as little actual feces as possible. thanks for the warning.
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3-10-2008 @6:40PM Big John said... Newsflash: the world is scary and isn't clean. Survived so far?

This is scaremongering at its best.
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3-10-2008 @7:32PM Raine said... @noza: Actually, if you've watched the movie 'Super Size Me' they did an experiment where they placed some Mcdonalds foods in jars and watched how long it would take for it to mold. French fries didn't mold for almost a whole year (because of the salt) and I don't remember how long the other foods lasted.
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3-10-2008 @8:56PM eh said... beerorkid knows. the same applies to when people make your salad, put cheese on your potato, put a straw in your beverage, anything really. restaurants are dirty places, as much as you hate to believe it. anyone who has worked in the food industry knows this. you just kind of have to grow up and get over it. reminder: you are built with an immune system for a reason.
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3-14-2008 @5:41AM Micah said... I've been chomping into lemons since I was just a toddler. Those dirty, evil little things haven't killed me so far (last I checked, anyway), so I'm not about to worry at this point. Besides, I'd never be able to break myself of the habit of chomping into a nice, tart lemon slice. Damn, now I'm salivating. Guess I gotta make me a trip to the produce section tomorrow. *drool*
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