Some Ice in Gyeonggi-do Cafes Exceeds Standards for Bacterial Count and Potassium Permanganate Levels

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] It has been revealed that some of the ice sold in cafes within Gyeonggi Province contained bacteria exceeding the standard levels.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 23rd that, in preparation for the summer season, from the 11th of last month to the 7th of this month, they tested a total of 146 ice samples used in cafes, including self-made ice from ice makers (100 cases), beverages such as Dutch coffee (10 cases), cup ice (13 cases), and frozen desserts (23 cases), for bacterial count and permanganate consumption, among other factors.

Test results showed that out of 100 ice maker ice samples, 2 exceeded the permanganate consumption standard (10.0 mg/L), measuring 16.7 mg/L and 24.3 mg/L respectively. Additionally, one other sample had a bacterial count of 1500 CFU/mL, surpassing the standard of 1000 CFU/mL.

The Institute immediately ordered three stores that used the non-compliant ice to stop using their ice makers through the relevant city and county authorities, and took measures to ensure that only ice meeting the standards is used after cleaning, disinfecting, and replacing filters.

Permanganate consumption is an indicator of the degree of organic contamination. It refers to the amount of potassium permanganate consumed by organic substances such as sugars, alcohol, and proteins.

A representative from the Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment stated, "We plan to strengthen inspections on summer high-consumption foods sold at multi-use facility food service establishments and instant sales manufacturing and processing businesses."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.