Ice Safety: Cold Facts to Avoid a Meltdown

Ice doesn’t slide by unscathed when it comes to food safety. A few basic guidelines can help prevent ice-related contamination.

By Patricia B. Dailey, Editor-in-Chief -- Restaurants & Institutions, 3/15/2007

Green onions, spinach, cantaloupe, burgers, tacos: Many foods have been implicated in restaurant-related foodborne illness outbreaks. Few, in fact, are entirely exempt. Even ice has been traced to incidents.

"It’s rare but not unheard of," says LeAnn Chuboff, director of science and regulatory relations for the Chicago-based National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF). "Sometimes ice and ice machines are overlooked as a potential source of contamination. Ice is considered a food and should be handled as one."

Here are best practices from the NRAEF for handling ice.

• Make sure water used to make ice comes from an approved source. Have water tested at least annually, or as required by local ordinance.
• Include ice machines on the master sanitation schedule. Work with the manufacturer to ensure proper frequency and method of cleaning. Chuboff notes that slime and mold tend to accumulate on ice chutes even more than in holding bins; make sure all areas are properly cleaned.
• Use an appropriate ice scoop and store it in a holder outside the ice machine. Placing scoops in the bin can transfer germs from the handle to the ice.
• Ice used to cool down foods should be clean and not reused since it can come in close contact with food.
• Train staff in good personal hygiene such as proper hand washing.
• In bar areas, do not use glassware to scoop ice. Also, do not store glassware on shelves above ice bins; breakage will require that all the ice be discarded.
• Avoid cross-contamination. Bins used to transport ice must be used solely for that purpose.