Last night on News 4 we ran our Troubleshooters Investigation on those lemon slices restaurants put in your water or iced tea.
The NBC Today show recently revealed how those lemon wedges can be loaded with harmful bacteria, even though you would expect the acidic content of the fruit to kill the little buggers.
A number of viewers e-mailed us, asking if we would test local, San Antonio restaurants. So we did.
We went to 10 different restaurants around town, and ordered water or tea with lemon.
We then took the slices to UT Health Science Center in sterile plastic bags. The slices were tested and, believe it or not, 5 out of the 10 samples, were contaminated with either e-coli, or fecal bacteria.
One of the lemon wedges actually contained 3 different kinds of fecal contamination, which was indicative of human waste. The researchers' conclusion: someone must have failed to wash their hands after going to the restroom.
At the other locations, the contamination could have come from failure to wash the lemons, or perhaps a dirty knife that had been used to cut meat prior to slicing the lemon.
Yes, it all adds up to a hefty gross-out factor, which makes for an interesting television story.
But for me, the big lesson here is the importance of washing fruits and vegetables, and washing your hands frequently.
After recent stories about e-coli contamination involving lettuce and other vegetables, I now wash everything, whether it is a banana with the peel still on, or supposedly "pre-washed" lettuce.
All of us have gotten sick at one time or another after eating at a restaurant. We usually blame it on some "bad chicken" or "bad fish".
Who knows, the real culprit might have been perched on the rim of our water glass...
