12-Year-Old's Science Project Finds Ice in Fast Food Restaurants is Dirtier than Toilet Water

A school science project conducted by a 12-year-old has revealed that the ice served at fast food restaurants is even dirtier than toilet water.

As part of the project, ice samples were collected by Jasmine Roberts at five restaurants in South Florida, both from the self-serve machines inside the restaurant and the drive-thru windows, reports ANI.

The collected samples were then tested for bacteria at the University of South Florida and compared with the toilet water samples from the same restaurants.

In many cases, the ice even tested positive for life threatening bacteria like E. coli, ABC News reported.

"These [bacteria] don't belong there. It's not cause for panic, although it is alarming because what she found is nothing new. You're not more likely to get sick now. But she's done us a favor by sounding the alarm," Dr. David Katz, medical contributor to 'Good Morning America' said.

According to Roberts and Katz, the reason ice was found to be dirtier was because the ice producing machines are unclean and also because people use unwashed hands to scoop ice.

On the other hand, the reason behind surprisingly bacteria-free toilet water is the fact that it comes from sanitized city water supplies, the report said.

Roberts carried out the award-winning project after reading a newspaper article about bacteria in airplane water. Also, she said all of her friends chew on ice, and it drives her crazy.