As I have *long* suspected, it turns out you might be adding much more to your water than just lemon.
They sampled 76 lemon wedges from 21 different restaurants and found that nearly 70% produced some form of microbial growth in the lab. In total, they were able to find 25 different forms of bacteria and yeasts on the sampled lemon wedges.
Ew.
I don’t think there’s any real danger there, at least no more so than eating at ANY restaurant. Gross stuff goes on, and no matter how hard you try, you’re not going to avoid it forever. As for the “witches’ brew” that supposedly happens when you drop your lemon in your drink….I have an issue with that from a food safety perspective: Bacteria need temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees to survive. My ice water is WAY colder than that, so I’m not going to worry too much. I am DEFINITELY not a germaphobe.