A study by a 12-year old student making the social media rounds shows that ice from fast food restaurants is dirtier than that from toilets. The reason being that toilets are cleaned regularly while ice machines are not. This sounds disgusting, but is it really? The unquestioned precedent is that toilet water must be vile.
However, perhaps in general toilet water isn’t so bad because of regular cleanings with disinfectants and that flushing a well-powered toilet may do a decent job of removing waste. Of course, it may seem viscerally gross to drink water out of a toilet, regardless of how clean the water is! But no one is suggesting you actually do that. The fallacy here is an appeal to visceral disgust from drinking out of the same place you defecate into.
Because in the past I’ve often had beverages from fast food restaurants but am very rarely sick in general, it seems unlikely that the level of ice contamination is scarily high. So while it makes for a good sound bite, and perhaps ice machines should be better regulated, I don’t think I’m going to change my ordering habits.
You write “ice from fast food restaurants is **cleaner** than that from toilets” when the referenced article states “the ice at fast food restaurants is actually **dirtier** than the toilet water at the same establishment”.
Totally opposite meaning – did no one else pick up on the error?
Whoops, yep, that was a typo — thanks for noticing, I’ll correct the post