McDonald's screen of death. I remain unsurprised.

A recent post from IFLScience.com claims that microbiologists from London Metropolitan University conducted swabbing on touch screens in McDonald's restaurants in London and Birmingham, finding coliforms, Bacillus and Listeria.  They also found Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Enterococcus faecalis and Klebsiella.

All of these bacteria are capably of causing infections, and you will find some discussion of these bacteria on this blog site - see labels.

But should we be surprised and should customers at McDonald's be concerned?  Well, I am not at all suprised.  If a microbiologist conducts swabbing in any public place, such as a supermarket, they will find all of these bacteria, perhaps on trolley handles, push plates on doors, in the toilets etc.  As for the customers, if they are concerned, they could order their meal on the touch screen, then wash their hands, or use a hand sanitiser.  Be honest - if you go to any fast food joint after you have been shopping in the mall, do you always wash your hands before you eat?

The original research was done for Metro (see https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/28/poo-found-on-every-mcdonalds-touchscreen-tested-8178486/).   Not surprisingly, when this post was published on FaceBook, there were 1.2 thousand comments and nearly a thousand shares.  My personal opinion is that this article was written and published for shock value and to boost circulation.  Interestingly, a video clip posted on this same site showed that the majority of customers were not surprised by the findings and would still go and purchase food there.

Whatever you think of McDonald's or any other fast food outlet, in my opinion, the researchers are making a mountain out of a molehill, and IFLScience is making it worse.  Don't pick on just one fast food chain, and think about how you protect yourself and your family from infection.

And while you are at it, think about a similar scenario in your own home.

Food for thought:  How do you recognise the microbiologists around you?  They are the people who use their little fingers or elbows to open doors, use a paper towel to turn the taps off in a public washbasin, use a knuckle on the touch screen and who often use hand sanitiser before eating in public.