More bacteria found in Beijing fast-food ice cubes than toilet water

Sometimes you're better off drinking from a fast-food chain's toilet than its carbonated drinks.

Ice cubes served in soft drinks can be dirtier than toilet water, an investigation by China's national television revealed on Saturday.

The report prompted the nation's largest fast-food chain KFC to apologise for serving ice cubes at a Beijing branch with a bacterial count 13 times higher than toilet water and 18 times higher than the national standard.

The company said in its apology that following the report, it had cleaned and disinfected its ice cube maker at the Chongwenmen branch.

Ice cubes at a local branch of Kongfu, a Chinese fast-food chain, was also found to have a bacterial count six times higher than toilet water. Ice cubes at a local McDonald's branch tested cleaner than toilet water, but still did not meet national hygiene standards.

The two fast-food chains have also apologised as the topic became the most widely discussed issue on Chinese microblogs at the weekend, with more than 100,000 people wading into the debate.