Faeces found on ice in UK KFC outlet

Fast food chain KFC in the UK has launched an investigation after a BBC television researcher was served ice with faecal bacteria on it.

The discovery was made at a KFC branch in Birmingham by researchers from BBC One's Rip Off Britain program.

They were looking into food hygiene standards at several big name takeaways and coffee shops with most of the samples turning up low and harmless levels of bacteria.

But Dr Margarita Gomez Escalada, who examined the results at Leeds Beckett University, told the show: "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."

KFC have released a statement saying it's "extremely disappointed" by the ice test, adding that it has now launched an investigation.

The food chain said it takes food safety and hygiene extremely seriously and had begun a staff retraining programme on company standards for touch point cleaning and procedures.