Traces
of faeces have been found on every single McDonald’s touchscreen
swabbed in an investigation by metro.co.uk. Samples were taken from the
new machines that have been rolled out at restaurants across the country
and every one of them had coliforms. Senior lecturer in microbiology at
London Metropolitan University Dr. Paul Matewele said: ‘We were all
surprised how much gut and faecal bacteria there was on the touchscreen
machines. These cause the kind of infections that people pick up in
hospitals.‘For instance, Enterococcus faecalis is part of the flora of
gastrointestinal tracts of healthy humans and other mammals. It is
notorious in hospitals for causing hospital-acquired infections.’
Unsuspecting diners choose their food on the touchscreens then head to
the server to pick up their burgers more often than not without washing
their hands. A screen at one branch was found to have staphylococcus, a
bacteria that can cause blood poisoning and toxic shock syndrome. Dr.
Matewele said: ‘Seeing Staphylococcus on these machines is worrying
because it is so contagious. ‘It starts around people’s noses, if they
touch their nose with their fingers and then transfer it to the
touchscreen someone else will get it, and if they have an open cut which
it gets into, then it can be dangerous.There is a lot of worries at the
moment that staphylococcus is becoming resistant to antibiotics.
However, it is still really dangerous in places like Africa where it can
cause toxic shock.’Metro.co.uk’s study with the university’s school of
human sciences involved swabs taken from eight McDonald’s restaurants.
Six in London and two in Birmingham.Listeria bacteria was found in
Oxford Street and Holloway Road branches. It can cause listeriosis which
can lead to miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women. Dr.
Matewele said: ‘Listeria is another rare bacterium we were shocked to
find on touchscreen machines as again this can be very contagious and a
problem for those with a weak immune system.’ Three-quarters of the
screens swabbed showed traces of the bacteria proteus.Three-quarters of
the screens swabbed showed traces of the bacteria proteus.Dr. Matewele
said: ‘Proteus can be found in human and animal faeces. It is also
widely distributed in soil. It can cause urinary tract infections and is
also one of the hospital-acquired infections where it may responsible
for septicaemia. ‘Klebsiella is also from the gut and mouth, they are
associated with urinary tract infections, septicemia and diarrhoea. Some
species can infect the respiratory tract resulting in pneumonia.’Dr
Matewele added: ‘Touchscreen technology is being used more and more in
our daily lives but these results show people should not eat food
straight after touching them, they are unhygienic and can spread
disease. ‘Someone can be very careful about their own hygiene throughout
the day but it could all be undone by using a touchscreen machine
once.’ McDonald’s does clean the screens with disinfectant but Dr
Matewele said it ‘could not have been strong enough.He added: ‘These
bacteria can be on touchscreen machines for days on end. A McDonald’s
spokesman said: ‘Our self-order screens are cleaned frequently
throughout the day. All of our restaurants also provide facilities for
customers to wash their hands before eating.’Traces of faeces found on McDonald's touchscreen kioks in UK
Traces
of faeces have been found on every single McDonald’s touchscreen
swabbed in an investigation by metro.co.uk. Samples were taken from the
new machines that have been rolled out at restaurants across the country
and every one of them had coliforms. Senior lecturer in microbiology at
London Metropolitan University Dr. Paul Matewele said: ‘We were all
surprised how much gut and faecal bacteria there was on the touchscreen
machines. These cause the kind of infections that people pick up in
hospitals.‘For instance, Enterococcus faecalis is part of the flora of
gastrointestinal tracts of healthy humans and other mammals. It is
notorious in hospitals for causing hospital-acquired infections.’
Unsuspecting diners choose their food on the touchscreens then head to
the server to pick up their burgers more often than not without washing
their hands. A screen at one branch was found to have staphylococcus, a
bacteria that can cause blood poisoning and toxic shock syndrome. Dr.
Matewele said: ‘Seeing Staphylococcus on these machines is worrying
because it is so contagious. ‘It starts around people’s noses, if they
touch their nose with their fingers and then transfer it to the
touchscreen someone else will get it, and if they have an open cut which
it gets into, then it can be dangerous.There is a lot of worries at the
moment that staphylococcus is becoming resistant to antibiotics.
However, it is still really dangerous in places like Africa where it can
cause toxic shock.’Metro.co.uk’s study with the university’s school of
human sciences involved swabs taken from eight McDonald’s restaurants.
Six in London and two in Birmingham.Listeria bacteria was found in
Oxford Street and Holloway Road branches. It can cause listeriosis which
can lead to miscarriages and stillbirths in pregnant women. Dr.
Matewele said: ‘Listeria is another rare bacterium we were shocked to
find on touchscreen machines as again this can be very contagious and a
problem for those with a weak immune system.’ Three-quarters of the
screens swabbed showed traces of the bacteria proteus.Three-quarters of
the screens swabbed showed traces of the bacteria proteus.Dr. Matewele
said: ‘Proteus can be found in human and animal faeces. It is also
widely distributed in soil. It can cause urinary tract infections and is
also one of the hospital-acquired infections where it may responsible
for septicaemia. ‘Klebsiella is also from the gut and mouth, they are
associated with urinary tract infections, septicemia and diarrhoea. Some
species can infect the respiratory tract resulting in pneumonia.’Dr
Matewele added: ‘Touchscreen technology is being used more and more in
our daily lives but these results show people should not eat food
straight after touching them, they are unhygienic and can spread
disease. ‘Someone can be very careful about their own hygiene throughout
the day but it could all be undone by using a touchscreen machine
once.’ McDonald’s does clean the screens with disinfectant but Dr
Matewele said it ‘could not have been strong enough.He added: ‘These
bacteria can be on touchscreen machines for days on end. A McDonald’s
spokesman said: ‘Our self-order screens are cleaned frequently
throughout the day. All of our restaurants also provide facilities for
customers to wash their hands before eating.’
