Traces of fecal matter on McDonald's touch screens: why it's no wonder



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BEURK – According to a study published in the English newspaper Metro, London's McDonald's touch screens all carry traces of fecal matter. A discovery that, in itself, is not so amazing.

– The drafting of LCI

In 2015, a survey conducted by the American magazine Consumer Reports revealed that almost all hamburgers contained traces of fecal matter. A British study published in the newspaper Metro and done in partnership with the microbiology department of the London Metropolitan University shows this time that the touch screens used to place orders at McDonald's are not spared by this contamination.

The tests, conducted in eight restaurants in the capital, also show the presence of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterium that can, in a person with weak immune system, cause an infection or, if ingested, cause vomiting, diarrhea and diarrhea. abdominal cramps. Listeria, also found on the screens of several restaurants, can also cause serious food poisoning.

More than one in three French people do not wash their hands after being in the toilet

If the publication of this study can cause disgust, it is not surprising. The English would be one in two to wash their hands after being in the toilet, and the French more than one in three. Feces bacteria and other germs and viruses are therefore found directly, and inevitably, stuck on fast-food screens, or on subway bars or supermarket trolleys. This does not mean, however, that everyone who comes into contact with these objects will get sick. Feces would be relatively harmless, while pathogenic elements, such as staphylococcus or listeria, particularly affect individuals whose immune system is weakened.

In an article on bacterial nests, which we published two weeks ago, Geneviève Héry-Arnaud, a bacteriologist at the University Hospital of Brest, pointed out that the vast majority of bacteria are harmless or even necessary for our survival. Thus, if it is essential to wash one's hands after having been in the bathroom and before eating, there is no need to worry excessively about the bacteria that surround us, and which constitute half of us.

The LCI editorial

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