BBC Program Finds Faecal Bacteria In Ice Served At A KFC Outlet In Birmingham

It’s been a bit of a grim week for KFC. After a probe, the BBC has reported that it found faecal bacteria in ice served at a KFC restaurant. Additionally, in an individual instance, a customer complained that she received a fried kidney in her meal. What’s going on, KFC?

The BBC’s Investigation

For an episode of ‘Rip Off Britain’, a BBC One series which explores Britain’s rip offs to educate and inform consumers, journalists visited and surveyed several fast food and coffee shops. As a part of the survey, researchers analysed water and ice samples from the restaurants  including a sample from a KFC outlet in Birmingham.

Dr Margarita Escalada, one of the researchers who studied the KFC sample said “We found high levels of bacteria in the ice. The presence of faecal coliform suggests that there’s faecal contamination either on the water that made the ice, or the ice itself, and so it increases the risk of getting sick from consuming this ice.”

In response, in a statement to the program, KFC said that it was “extremely disappointed” and has “immediately launched an investigation”.

Kidneys At KFC

In other news, KFC had recently received a complaint from an irate customer.

The customer took to Facebook to complain after she ordered a chicken and thigh at a KFC outlet in North Carolina and received a side of fried kidney with her meal. Indeed, such instances have happened in the past – KFC says that sometimes workers may miss out on removing offal during the prep inspection process.

In response to this particular complaint that company has said “While there was no health risk, we agree it was not appetizing.”

Meanwhile, we reached out to KFC India regarding the incident – here’s what a spokesperson had to say: