The most dangerous thing you could be putting in your mouth at a warung or kaki lima might not be the food but the ice in your drink.
On the orders of the city’s health department, police took recently ice cube samples from a warung on Jalan Setiabudi in South Jakartay.
The ice was tested at the Ministry of Health’s laboratory and the results, which were revealed today, were pretty gross. They showed that the ice was filled with coliform bacteria as well as chemicals including chlorine, caustic soda and industrial anti-foaming agents.
“When consumed for a long time, many of those [chemicals] will cause cancer,” said the Sub-Directorate representative of Andre Prawira, subdirector of the Microbiology and Immunology Service Development at the Ministry of Health, as quoted by Tribunnews.
Shockingly, officers investigating the manufacturer of the ice blocks used at the warung found that it was made with water from the Kalimalang river in Bekasi, which is treated for industrial use only and is definitely not fit for human consumption.
So think long and hard before you order another es teh manis or es kelapa muda at any warung in the future…
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