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Nagging Question
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Is Store-Bought Ice More Germy than Homemade Ice?Frozen germs are still germs |
It depends where you buy your ice. The FDA considers ice to be a food, so safe storage, handling, and display practices apply. If you’re buying a bag of ice at a convenience store, and it has been made in the back room and scooped into generic bags, the risk may be higher.
The FDA’s rules, says press office spokesperson Michael L. Herndon, require that:
• Ice must be made from potable, drinking-quality water. These standards are equivalent to EPA drinking water standards.
• Commercially processed ice as well as ice that is produced and bagged on-site for sale in stores or restaurants must be labeled with the name of the product, the company, the address, and the weight.
• Ice machines are considered “food contact surfaces” and must be cleaned and sanitized for safety.
• Scoops are to be used instead of hands (no bare hand contact with ice) or glasses (glass could break and contaminate the ice).
• There are plumbing requirements for commercial ice machines to prevent backup of waste water or sewage into the ice bin.
But how you handle it also matters. Most documented sickness caused by ice has been attributed to contaminated hands passing germs to the ice. So wash your hands.
The International Packaged Ice Association (IPIA) fights for all bagged ice to be pristine and wants more government oversight. Since manufacturing guidelines vary from state to state, “it’s a little bit of a free-for-all,” says Jane McEwen, executive director of IPIA. But still, says McEwen, “it’s rare to find a documented case of outbreaks.”
To ensure you pick up a good-quality bag of ice next time you’re at the store, check for a manufacturer’s name and address or phone number on the bag (McEwen says “back room” ice-makers often buy generic bags that don’t meet federal labeling guidelines and may not even be made of food-safe materials), and look for a logo from one of the ice manufacturing associations.
99% of ice in made in the ice machine at the front of the store. What a useless article.
The ice machine is a machine that makes ice, plops it into the bag and automatically heat-seals the bag. The only human interaction is loading the bags into the machine. If you're buying ice at Wal-mart or your local grocery store that is using ubiquitous ice bags, You're perfectly safe.
I think it's time to end the "Nagging Question" series if this is the best you can do. I know of no one - NO ONE - who has ever been concerned about this issue.
I couldn't agree more.
One thing we don't need is to start lobbing germ bomb ammo at the germophobes and getting them all riled up.
I think a good topic would be the shelf life of common staple ingredients. For example, how long before my olive oil goes bad, and how will I know? How long will meat/chix keep in the freezer? Do dried beans go bad? Does rice become rancid? These are the nagging questions I deal with as go to cook...Oh, and how long can I keep my spices?
foodISlove--
The questions we answer come from reader and staff submissions. If you'd like to send your own in, please do! They can be sent to naggingquestion@chow.com.
Thanks for reading!
-Roxanne Webber, associate editor, CHOW
If you're afraid the ice you bought has germs, boil it before using.
I actually have wondered this -- whether the bagged ice was meant for consumption, or just to fill coolers. I am not sure I have any more clarity on this issue now, but understand why people might want to know!