WOW! My mother and I have been waiting all weekend for this story to air. And all weekend we have been avoiding lemons (which my mother loves ) but we are so grateful that channel 4 gives us useful information on TV. Almost everyone I know has had a lemon at a store before and now thanks to news 4 a change will be taking place to make lemons safer for us all. I would like to see a follow-up test on the same places in a few months to see if they really followed your advice. THANKS

I would like a list of the restaurants in the "bad lemon" report.

Thanks.

I've been waiting to see this. I quit asking for lemon when I heard it was coming on. Now I know I will never ask for lemon again. And will definatly wash the lemons I buy before useing them for my tea, water and for zesting.

When I saw this upcoming issue I was very anxious to view it for I always ask for lemon if it's for my water or tea and it has been a concern to me as to the possibility of cross contamination and/or poor hand washing but I tried to think that the restaurant used very good standards. I am appauld and extremely concerned for I have a compromised immune system and what a normal person's immune system could handle I could get have spend days in a hospital over what some people call "Simple bacteria". Since I do live in Il., I am extremely anxious to know the restaurants though I realize this is no guarantee that this could happen anywhere. Thanks to news 4 for making us aware of this.

This study is flawed. Iced Tea is high in fecal matter unless it is boiled for a few minutes--old news from a few years ago. All of your tests were done with iced tea--no a very good study. Try it again with water and I may take it seriously. Leave it to Channel 4 to mess up.

Can you tell us the restaurants because this is gross.

I no longer ask for lemons in restaurants. Instead I still love lemons in my tea or water by taking my own individual packets of crystallized "True Lemon" with me. They're small packets, like sugar packets, but it's 100% natural lemons in a covenient packet. I can buy them online at DiscountCoffee.com. They are right here in Lake St. Louis and ship right to my door.

At least when the Health department publishes a restaurant's inspection scores, they also publish the name of the restaurant. In reporting your very unscientific study of .1% of the restaurants in St. Charles, 100% will be affected. This is a disservice to these restaurants, their employees, and the public.

Thank you for doing this report. It was actually a news story that I could use. I will never order lemon in my drinks again.

next I wish you could test the actual food from dirve thru's where those handling money also move over and touch the food. Lion's Choice does this with ice cream cones, and steak n shake also lets those at the window prepare your food. I am sure there are others.

Wish you would investigate STL County's restaurant inspections. Their website still lists the ratings for November!!! When I complain I either get no answer or long excuses. How many inspectors are there and what are WE paying them???

Is the fecal matter only on the lemons? What about the safety of the rest of the food?

And what about the cherry's, celery, olives and other garnishes?????? yuk

I eat out quite often from Mid-rivers to Fairview Heights.
Please share a list of these restaurants that acquired your lemon wedges.

I was anxious to see your report on the lemons, but I was very disappointed. Why won't you name the restaurants? Don't just slam this stuff together, the teasers have more substance than the story!! How about some real journalism instead of all the hype. Too much time is spent on the teasers.

I don't order anything in my drinks anymore after noticing on numerous occassions the waiters each picking lemons with their hands and throwing them into glasses. Restuarant santitation is really poor now. I've also noticed poeple rubbing their noses, playing with hair etc. Does anyone know how much santitation training a person has to go through before handling food? We need more reports like this.

I was at the Schnucks in Belleville and ordered some BBQ out of the deli. The guy sneezed, then wiped his snotty nose on his hand, THEN GOT MY BBQ with no gloves. He touched it and I dared to say no thanks. He dumped it back in the bin, so somebody got that snotty BBQ. When I complained to Schnucks, they could have cared less.

Joseph Simrany, president of the Tea Association of the USA, .... He said bacteria naturally found in tea, such as klebsiella and enterobacter, react the same way to the tests as does fecal coliform, which indicates a lack of sanitation

"http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n23_v30/ai_18379170"

In response to Tricia:

Unless these companies are making "Sun" tea, then they are boiling the tea to brew it. More than likely they brew it just like coffee since that is the way we did it where I worked.

However, was the cup clean? The lid? We were not required to wear gloves while stocking these items.

Where is the control group? Did you test any lemons from the grocery store? How about picking lemons off a tree?

Is the bacteria you found harmful? How about the levels of fecal matter? (As disgusting as it sounds, there are safe levels of fecal. You eat fecal every day. It's even on your tooth brush.)

This is yet another example of the news trying to scare you about something stupid. Please, channel 4, err on the side of substance for a change. THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE.

Bring on the lemons!

The fact that this occurs is very disturbing. These places are glad you brought this to their attention so that they can take precautions? What happened to actually being proactive and doing their job rather then being reminded to do it?

I think the restraunts should be named so we have the choice of going there or not , instead of not knowing and maybe getting sick , come on 4 step up and name them

I am the Director of Marketing for Precision Foods, headquartered in St. Louis. We are a company who manufactures and sells products to the foodservice industry. In November, we became the exclusive foodservice supplier of True Lemon which is a relatively new product manufactured by Grand Brands. Other the past few months we have been promoting True Lemon to foodservice operations and specifically targeting chains who provide sliced lemons in communal bins at beverage stations. True Lemon is 100% natural, crystallized lemon and tastes just like fresh lemons. It is available in sanitary packets which would be ideal to position at restaurant beverage stations. Patrons could still flavor their water, tea or soda and do so knowing there is absolutely no contamination risk. Hopefully your news story will help restaurants understand that providing lemon slices in open containers is NOT healthy for their patrons. Consumers can purchase True Lemon and True Lime (in both packets and shaker bottles) at both Schnucks and Dierbergs.

This is very interesting. But has anyone looked at the possibility that the lemons were cross-contaminated by the kitchen staff who also touch mushrooms (grown on "composted fecal matter") and egg shells (which are known to be contaminated)? Why just center on the poor lemons? Isn't it possible that everything on the salad bar has also become contaminated? And what about other uncooked foods?

I will order the non-fecal lemon wedge next time.

I believe your report said that they did not identify the bacteria. How do you know it was fecal bacteria and not bacteria from dirt? I know both sound gross, but at least it would not be from feces.

Go figure... you think you're being healthy by ordering ice tea. I guess I'll have to go back to soda.

Also, I'm very disappointed KMOV won't release the names of the restaurants that were tested. Please reconsider this decision. You could be saving someone from getting very sick. Although we appreciate the story and information, not sharing the restaurant names is just as harmful.

I think channel 4 did the right thing, my self I like to eat out, but at the same time I dont care to eat the same thing someone else did earlier. come on channel we the people have the right to know what restaurants have people working for them , that have no regard for other people. what do we do go in to a restaurant ask for a glass of tea with lemon and bye the way ill kiss that guys butt also ?

What an absolutely flawed study! Did you test the ice? Did you test the water? Brewed tea is usually made with HOT water that flows through tea bags, or by boiling the water first and then dropping the tea bags into it...either way not hot enough to kill bacteria that comes from the tea leaf fragments. Six bacterial colonies on a plate represent six bacterial cells, not six spots of fecal matter. A spot of fecal matter would yield THOUSANDS of cells, not just a few. Where did your microbioloogist come from? Bacilluses? It's Bacilli...not bacilluses...DUH! Come on...one of my first semester microbiology students caught that one. Good grief...It's misreporting and sensationalistic journalism like this that leads to the proliferation of misinformation. Are we still in a sweeps week?

I wasn't surprised when I saw your story on tv. I have worked in alot of restaurants and some people just don't was their hands. I think you should keep up with the restaurants that you went to, see if they changed anything. Maybe try a few bars alot of people have lemon or lime with their drinks.

The problem with lemons and other easlier dispensed items is that alot of customers think it is the restaurants problem, the main problem is the customers who use the bathroom and do not wash their hands, the public are extremely dirty and blame everyone else, why not check on buffets look at all the serving utensils falling in the food, the sneeze guards don't cover when a child sneezing all over the food.

I believe this is a by product of a much larger issue. I'm glad to see the report on lemons however the focus should have been on the number of resturants who do not require their employees, who deal directly with food, to wear gloves. I have been in Pappa Johns on New Halls Ferry and watched them make pizza with bare hands. PLEASE take this investgation another step and look for those places who do not require their food handlers to wear gloves. The lives of alot of people are at stake. Thank-you

Ok. Lets try to be a little rational about this and use our thinking caps for a minute.

Dont you people think that before they came out with this report, that they thoroughly investigated that there could be other items associated with lemons that could cause a fecal matter reaction.

If the CDC admits that there are bacteria in tea that registers as fecal matter in tests why wasn't this mentioned on the air in this report.

Hmmmm?

Maybe that's why they wouldn't reveal the restaurants, because if they did they would have half a dozen corporate lawyers ready to jump down their throats.

Just food (or lemons) for thought.

Lemons anyone? Not anymore! Does anyone know anything about those True Lemon packets mentioned above?

I noticed that one of the advertisers on this website is True Lemon Crystallized Lemon Mix - great for water, tea & recipes.

Perhaps this is what prompted the story. Sure would boost their sales! :)

I m a server/bartender at a mexican restaraunt,I cut alot of citrus fruit everyday.It is soaked in sanatizer rinsed then cut.I have a hard time believing the lemons carried these germs and if it does they need to order some food and check that I have seen alot of cooks throughout the years at many restaraunts and alot have very bad hand washing habits.

Having been in the food service industry for years, I can tell you that it isn't just about wearing gloves. It is a whole awareness of cleanliness. My mother taught me how to be clean and sanitary while growing up.

Then in my late teens, I was in Virginia and wanted to work in foodservice. At the time Virginia REQUIRED all foodservice workers to take a food handling safety class and be tested on how to work and keep things sanitary. Of course, as a teen I scoffed at the idea, but found it was invaluable information and have carried that education with me. I was not allowed to work in a food service environment until I passed the test and received a certification that I had to give to the new employer to show that I had taken the course.

I am surprised that this isn't something that is done everywhere, even at the corporate level. The program I did was a state program. If I owned a restaurant, even if it was a franchise, I would train my employees in the awareness factor.

A lot of people wear gloves, then scratch their head before putting together the sandwich for you. Again...hopelessly unaware.

The other thing I will say, is that if you think lemons are bad, then test salad bars. Unfortunately, there is no real way to guarantee that you will have NO bacteria on your food, no matter how clean you try to keep things. Even pre-packaged foods (remember the spinach?) that come direct from the plants to the restaurants or to your local grocery store can be contaminated.

In my opinion, the best action is education of the food workers. I feel that it is the responsibility of the owners/corporate of any food place to train the staff in food handling and safety. Don't assume that someone you hire has been shown how to be truly clean. In fact, always assume that they haven't.

Incidentally, I would bet that the bacteria came from the ice, and not the lemons. EVERYONE touches the ice scoop, or the ice buckets. The staff in the back comes up after mopping the bathroom floors and gets themselves a drink, where they pick up the scoop of ice, then put the scoop back in the ice. THAT is what they should be testing.

Finally, it doesn't matter about which restaurants were tested. Think about it....100% of the ones tested came back positive. So the odds of it happening at your favorite place are just as high as the ones tested.

I could list MANY things that go on in restaurants that I consider food safety issues that goes beyond a pair of gloves. And I have often tried to 'pass on' cleanliness information to my employers/managers, only to be told that since it wasn't "company policy" to change the way things were done, that integrating safer food handling was only something that had to be passed down from corporate.

If we really want to make the changes, then we need to demand it from the people who make the decisions on how the business is run. It comes from the top down.

I would love to see a service that offers companies large and small a food handling safety class that should be required by all employees.

If you think a service like this would be valuable, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to email me by clicking here.

Is there anyway that I can get a copy of the restaurants in question here?

I waited for this report also regarding the lemons. Thanks for brining this to our attention. I found it sickening and will not order lemon with any of my drinks from this time on! I do wish you would publish those eateries. Thanks! Great job.

YUK!! I love lemons, in fact I always ask for extra lemons in my iced tea. I will be bringing my own lemons from now on. Thanks for the report.

These lemons was open to the public. Which means ANYONE was touching. Those whom think all their foods are clean and perfect from any help yourself type fast food place might wanna take your home toothbrush in to have looked at. Yuck :-(

This was a great report and very eye-opening. But, I applaud Channel 4 for not revealing the names of the restaurants in question. If the tests are not accurate, revealing the name of the restaurant could severly damage their reputation.
Reports like this are great... but all the facts better straight before names are released.

I live near Fairview Heights and would like to know personally what restaurant it was that had the highest level of bacteria. Thanks.

It said that they ordered an Iced Tea w/Lemon - So to be clear, that is water, tea leaves, ice and lemon.

Since we someone had an article like this one recently on Ice, one has to wonder if this was contamination of the lemons by the ice.

I think to be accurate (I don't care about fairness, just accuracy) I would think that they could go to this resturants, or others and get all of the components separately and have them tested never having touched each other.

On the other hand, I am wondering what the Department of Health inspectors are doing with their days? They should be doing spot testing on resturant practices and its employees. Whats it take to have a lab test kit to take samples with.

I'm not trying to but a blame on the Health Dept, but saying that our tax dollars should be used wisely and productively. In addition, the dept needs to keep their procedures updated in pace with the technological times.

I would also like a list of the restaurants.

Everything has bacteria on it. What needed to be included was the determination of the likelihood of the bacteria to cause disease to the customer. How many people have become ill from this situation? What illnesses have resulted? Who is more likely to get sick and why? Where there other items (olives, celery, cherries) tested? How does this compare to the lemons in an average house hold? This story was incomplete and focused only on the “sky is falling” part. Shame on KMOV for writing a story that creates fear and allows its audience to assume an issue exists when there is none. I am also sorry to see so many are so easily lead and don’t bother to ask questions to insure they are informed fully and accurately. TSK TSK!

From: Russell Kinsaul

Been a lot of questions about the accuracy of the test results, why we didn't test more items and why we didn't name the restaurants. I hope this post will address those issues.

Background

Our story said that we heard of a study that found bacteria on a high percentage of lemons that were tested and we wondered what we would find.

We purchased iced tea w/lemon from 8 restaurants in 8 separate communities across the metro, some locally owned and some national chains.

They were tested for bacteria and for Fecal Choliform and the tests showed positive for both, on all 8 lemon slices.

As stated in the story, we did not test for specific types of bacteria, but the health department says where you find Fecal Choliform there is also a likelihood of finding pathogenic organisms like E Coli.

Questions

Q-Maybe it was in the tea leaves and not on the lemons.

According the microbiologist who did the testing, it would take a very high concentration of Fecal Choliform on the small amount of tea leaves used to make a large quantity of tea to leave as much Fecal Choliform as was found on the lemon slices. Making it highly unlikely that you could blame the tea leaves.

Q-Maybe the wrong test was used.

In the mid-90’s television stations did a series of stories about tests finding bacteria in iced tea. Turns out a general test for bacteria was used and a non-pathogenic organism called Erwinia herbicola, which is commonly found on foods grown in soil, was probably causing a false positive for bacteria. Laboratories learned their lesson. The lab we used, conducted a test that specifically looks for Fecal Choliform. On top of that, the experienced microbiologist who did the tests told me only an intern would not know that Fecal Choliform has a blue-metallic look and that he specifically looked for those distinguishing characteristics.

Q-Maybe manure was used in growing the lemons.

The microbiologist told me that the lemons would have had to fall out of the trees onto cow patties to have the level of Fecal Choliform that the tests found. In addition, no matter how contaminated the lemon was when it arrived at the restaurant, it shouldn’t test positive for Fecal Choliform if proper food handling procedures are followed.

Q-Maybe it was the supplier who contaminated the lemons.

Again, the lemons shouldn’t test positive for Fecal Choliform if proper food handling procedures are followed.

Q-Maybe it was a customer who contaminated the lemons by not using tongs at the self-serve counter.

We raised that possibility in the story. Even so, when contacting the restaurants about our test results, most didn’t see that as an excuse for serving contaminated lemons to customers and expressed a desire to find a way to ensure even lemons on the self-serve counter could be kept free of contamination.

Q-Why don’t you name the restaurants?

We didn’t have the time or the budget to test lemons at a large percentage of the restaurants in the metro area. Since we only tested one in each of the eight communities, it would be unfair to name the one restaurant in each community without having put its competitors to the same test.

I think this will be a phase for consumers. Bacteria is EVERYWHERE and if someone were to avoid it would be virtually impossible. People have been ordering lemons with their drinks for several years and there has not been any significant damage done. People will forget about it, and lemons will be a question of the past.