Holiday peril of iced drinks

Holidaymakers can be at risk from contaminated water

Iced drinks served in many holiday resorts are contaminated and a danger to health, a consumer watchdog magazine has warned.

Poor hygiene among waiters and bar staff is blamed for the problem, with too few staff washing their hands after trips to the toilet.

Researchers and microbiologists from Holiday Which? tested 179 samples of drinking water and ice in Spain, France, Portugal and Britain and found a number of hygiene problems.

Although the scientists found that the general quality of drinking water was good, particularly in Spain, they found there were problems with drinks in cafes and bars.

The waiter must have wiped his bottom with those ice cubes

Microbiologist

Contaminated water

One in five ice cubes were contaminated with faecal bacteria, suggesting poor hygiene practice in bars and cafes.

Roger Lakin, assistant editor of Holiday Which?, said that contaminated ice cubes could be the reason for many holiday makers going down with travellers' tummy.

"The microbiological standard of tap water in the places we tested is generally good.

Roger Lakin: "It has put me off having ice in drinks"

"But many of the ice samples were potentially harmful, with one in five showing evidence of faecal contamination.

"The most likely source of this is staff not washing their hands after they've been to the toilet."

"It has put me off having ice in drinks."

Of the resorts where samples were tested, Biarritz had the worst problems.

One sample, taken from the Grand Hotel, Bayonne, was so bad that the microbiologist commented: "The waiter must have wiped his bottom with those ice cubes."

Nearly a third of all the water samples from hotel and bars were found to be of dubious quality.

Four samples were shown to be harmful and two showed evidence of faecal contamination.

Avoiding contamination

Only drink where there is a drinking water sign

Stick to bottled water in hotels and cafes

If you need ice cubes check that the bar is clean

Over half the ice samples were also found to be contaminated.

Dubious water

In Fuengirola, on the Costa del Sol, scientists found that the drinking water was of good quality, but again half the ice cubes were found to be contaminated.

One in five ice cubes were affected

In the Algarve, Portugal, five of the 34 water samples taken from bars and apartments were found to be of dubious quality.

And as four of these were drawn from the taps in self-catering apartments, the scientists said it put a question mark over the quality of the mains water supply.