A 2007 study in the Journal of Environmental Health tested 76 lemons from 21 restaurants for germs and discovered nearly 70 percent of the lemon slices were covered in bacteria, viruses, and other microbes — including disease-causing E. coli. Another ABC investigation testing one lemon at 10 different restaurants found that half the wedges contained human waste, which we don’t even like thinking about.
So why are lemon wedges incredibly contaminated? As it turns out, restaurant health standards tend to be less strict for garnishes.
The ABC investigation noticed that restaurant workers often grabbed lemons without gloves or tongs. Say they didn’t scrub their hands thoroughly after using the bathroom or touching another germ-ridden spot…That means there’s a good chance they’re covering your lemon slice in bacteria before plopping it right in your ice water.
Gross.
As nasty as these findings are, experts say that the average immune system is equipt to handle these kinds of germs. It doesn’t make it any less unpleasant to think about, but the odds of contracting some kind of infection or illness from a dirty lemon are slim.
Still, we wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to avoid ordering lemon waters from here on out.
