Doctor Exposes Dangerous Bacteria On Restaurant Play Structures
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - If you have kids, you've probably stopped for a bite to eat at a restaurant with a playground attached. While that play structure may be a fun distraction for youngsters, it could also be very dangerous.
A professor at Arizona State University is looking for dangerous micro-organisms hiding in play structures attached to restaurants.
"It's appalling that there is no regulation," Dr. Erin Carr-Jordan told CBS13's Ron Jones. "I am a mom on a mission. I have four young kids."
Many fast food restaurants use play structures to reach out to families with young children.
Dr. Jordan says she was grossed out while visiting a restaurant in Arizona. She shot video from her cell phone of what she calls unidentifiable substances embedded throughout the structure.
She gathered samples and had them tested at a laboratory.
"Meningitis and gonorrhea. We found coli forms which is indicative of fecal matter and if you found that in any pool you have to actually close the pool down," said Dr. Jordan.
Appalled by what she found, she now travels the country collecting samples and confronting corporate leaders.
"We found bacteria which resides in the intestines of humans and pigs," Dr. Jordan explained.
She even collected samples in Sacramento and is now waiting for the results.
We contacted the Sacramento County officials and they confirmed they never examine restaurant play structures.
"They don't ever look in the structures the kids are playing in because there's no food actually prepared there and kids aren't being dropped off there like a daycare," explained Dr. Jordan. "As a mom and as somebody who specializes in child development, I could not let it go on without telling as many people as I possibly could."
She's now reaching out to several lawmakers in Congress to make restaurants more accountable.
Dr. Carr-Jordan says she paying for this mission out of her pocket.
She hopes to have results on the Sacramento samples in two weeks.
