What's The Dirt on Restaurants?

[Lucky]

Thanks to an investigation by ABC News, we know what to watch for when dining out.

Read on -- the results may surprise you. Visible goop didn't always translate into bad bugs, and some spotless surfaces harbored major microbes.

10. Salad Bar Tongs

The salad bar tongs weren't that bad -- maybe because Americans don't eat enough salad.

9. Ketchup Bottles

The ketchup bottles weren't harboring anything too awful.

8. Bathroom Faucets

7. Bathroom Door Knobs

"The faucets, the door handles ... were some of our least germy items, because they get cleaned," [Consumer correspondent Elisabeth]Leamy said.

6. Rims of Glasses

The hidden cameras caught waiters gripping glasses right at the top where we drink, which gives pathogens a direct route into our bodies. Tests on the samples Leamy took detected multiple bacteria, including one linked with tuberculosis.

5. Tables

Here's a clue as to how tables could be so germy. Leamy and "20/20" were shown photographs of parents changing their baby's diapers at the table and toilet-training their toddlers in restaurants.

4. Salt and Pepper Shakers

Half of the swabs Leamy took from them were contaminated. How is that possible? They're used often but are rarely cleaned.

3. Lemon Wedges

One of the most frequently occurring contaminants in the test results was fecal matter. Half of the lemon wedges tested were tainted with human waste.

How does fecal matter get on lemons in the first place? Cameras caught restaurant workers grabbing lemons with their bare hands, reaching in again and again without gloves or tongs. If they haven't washed their hands well after using the bathroom, germs spread.

2. Menus

Leamy found the bacteria that causes staph infections on one, and the germs that cause strep throat on another.

1. Seats

Seventy percent of the chair seats Leamy tested had bad bacteria on them -- 17 different kinds, including strains of E. coli. Why? All customers sit on them, and most restaurants don't think to sanitize them.

So what can you do? For starters, Leamy advised, the next time you go to a restaurant, take a seat, order your food -- then go wash your hands before you eat.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Well I think a little bit of germ is not that bad and makes one's immune system stronger. I think most US restaurants are pretty clean. Maybe living quarters of these reporters and producers should be inspected and see what happens. I don't like the fact that a woman who keeps her house messy and doesn't even know how to clean a dish or do laundry, comes to restaurants and complain about hygiene. I have seen some high maintenance lady who can't even carry her own bag complain about bugs at a hotel on a tropical island. Thus, the hotel has to use harmful chemicals to kill bugs unnecessary. What she eats and touches is full of harmful chemicals in the end and she is gladly paying top dollars for it.

[Guest EXPAT]

My father many years ago used to work for the local health department. I was in high school at the time and I learned so much about cleanliness that isn't always obvious. Ever since then I have been known to walk out of restaurants if I didn't think they were clean enough. While I'm glad that LA County and Orange County have taken up the same A - F ratings that NYC have it's only a rating at a moment in time. But it does help keep the restaurants on their toes.

[lookin]

Well I think a little bit of germ is not that bad and makes one's immune system stronger. I think most US restaurants are pretty clean. Maybe living quarters of these reporters and producers should be inspected and see what happens. I don't like the fact that a woman who keeps her house messy and doesn't even know how to clean a dish or do laundry, comes to restaurants and complain about hygiene. I have seen some high maintenance lady who can't even carry her own bag complain about bugs at a hotel on a tropical island. Thus, the hotel has to use harmful chemicals to kill bugs unnecessary. What she eats and touches is full of harmful chemicals in the end and she is gladly paying top dollars for it.

That's some pretty clear thinking, Mister! Very well said.

[Guest hitoallusa]

Well I have travel through some foreign countries (I won't name it not to offend anyone associated that country) and they don't even have regular health inspections for restaurants. I didn't get sick from eating there so as long as they don't serve rotten food and contaminated vegetables most people with healthy immune system should be fine. I like the fact that most US restaurants get inspected regularly. I think it's an example for other countries to follow.

My concern is what these restaurants put into their food in order to make it taste good and more cost effective.. It got to a point that we are eating a lot of chemicals instead of natural products. Maybe that's the way of the future food industry but its hard to tell what's going to happen by eating combinations of various chemicals.. Some are debated carcinogens..

Shiny flashy tasty food ladden with chemicals to appeal to people's senses.. I'm not sure how it will affect our health and society... Making money is good but doing it against once conscience and reason is something that the bank industry does at the expense others so CEOs can have yachts and luxurious houses. They must be someone's son, daughter, father and mother.. Yet they don't seem to care for anything other than their promotion and maintaining their status quo.. Recently a woman I know manipulated other people so she can be promoted and also a guy accused someone for his own serious mistakes so he can get out it. Unfortunatley, he did. Sometimes I don't want to wake up in the morning not to deal with them... But I pick up myself out of the bed thinking the world got better than the time when those who were weak just got killed because their masters said so... It will get better...