Girl Finds Ice Dirtier Than Toilet Water.

Dateline: TAMPA, Fla. â€"

Perhaps dogs have had the right idea all along. A Florida middle school student found that toilet water was cleaner than the ice dispensed I at some local fast-food restaurants.

Jasmine Roberts, 12, sampled ice from five fast-food restaurants in southern Florida. Some of the ice was collected from self-service dispensers in each restaurant, and some was taken from soft-drink cups served at each restaurant's drive-through window. She also drew water samples from toilets in the restaurants.

With help from a professor at the University of South Florida, Jasmine tested each sample in a lab. Her results: In four of the five restaurants, the ice in the self-serve machines had more bacteria than the toilet water did. In three of the five restaurants, the ice served at the drive-through windows also had more bacteria than the toilet water had.

The number of bacteria in each ice sample did not violate health-code standards. However, in three restaurants, the ice tested positive for either fecal coliform or Escherichia coli (E. coli), bacteria that come from the feces of endothermic (warm-blooded) animals. Fecal coliform can induce diarrhea and vomiting. E. coli can cause illnesses of the intestines and the kidneys.

Jasmine guesses that the ice machines had been contaminated by people who had been handling raw meat in the kitchen or hadn't washed their hands after using the bathroom. She believes that the toilet water had fewer bacteria because the restaurants were more diligent at cleaning their washrooms than their ice dispensers.

Jasmine's research won best of fair in the junior division of the Hillsborough County Regional Science and Engineering Fair in February. News of her results flew through the airwaves and was picked up by CNN, Good Morning America, and Jay Leno.

Though the study gained national attention, its sample size of just five restaurants was too small for Jasmine to make broad conclusions about fast-food restaurants across the country. Still, Jasmine is more cautious now about eating out, even though the restaurants she tested have reformed their cleaning procedures One restaurant manager even asked her to return for a follow-up study. "I used to go to some of those restaurants, but now I just stay home and eat my mom's cooking," Jasmine told Current Science.

Jasmine follows in the path of her brother Justus, 18, who won best of fair in the senior division. When Jasmine described the idea for her project to him, says Justus, "I gave her a high five, then said, you're a strange little kid.' But I supported her all the way."

PHOTO (COLOR): Name your poison â€" toilet water or an icy soft drink. Jasmine Roberts found that toilet water was cleaner.

PHOTO (COLOR): Jasmine Roberts presented the results of her study at a county science fair in February.