You Won’t Want To Touch A McDonald’s Kiosk EVER Again For This Disgusting Reason

Remember when McDonald’s announced that they were implementing ordering kiosks? The idea was so cool. Finally, you can have some control in making sure your order is right! And plus, kiosks give you more time to peruse the entire menu. Unfortunately, all (at least most) good things have consequences — and once you learn about what’s on these kiosks, you might very well miss reciting your order to an actual human employee.

Metro posted a study that tested a handful of these kiosks for fecal bacteria, and surprise! It was found on every single one. Now, bad germs are a terrible thing that we all have to encounter on a daily basis. But to hear that every single kiosk included feces is very gross.

In total, eight McDonald’s locations in the U.K. were tested — six were located in London and two were in Birmingham. Every single one came back with evidence of coliforms, which is the bacteria that’s commonly found in fecal matter. It was a huge indicator that the kiosks simply aren’t as clean as you think. It may even make you lose your appetite entirely.

“We were all surprised how much gut and fecal bacteria there was on the touchscreen machines,” Dr. Paul Matawele, a senior lecturer in microbiology at London Metropolitan University, said to Metro, adding that this is the type of bacteria that leads to serious infections.

Metro went on to state that one of the screens actually contained staphylococcus, which is responsible for toxic shock syndrome and blood poisoning. So yes, this is pretty serious.

So, what can you do to avoid it? The best way to make sure you don’t pass on germs is to always wash your hands properly. And no, just running them under water for a few seconds isn’t enough.  You can also make a point to wash your hands after using a kiosk, to make sure you get rid of any lingering bacteria.