LAS VEGAS -- Lemon wedges get plunked in your water or iced tea at a restaurant, and you think it's healthy.

Video: Bacteria On Lemons

The truth is that a little lemon wedge could contain hundreds of types of bacteria, some of them extremely dangerous, and others just disgusting, Las Vegas television station KVVU reported.

In testing of lemons from six restaurants, the station found two contaminated lemons. In one case, it was bacteria that you wouldn't want anywhere near you, let alone your mouth.

The lemon tested positive for E. coli, which is usually found in fecal matter.

"For feces to be present in a lemon -- that's pretty gross," said Anthony Francis of Silver State Laboratories.

Francis did the testing.

"This is pretty serious. Yeah, you don't want to see E. coli in food or water," he said.

To collect the samples, the station visited restaurants the Olive Garden, El Pollo Loco, IHOP, Jerry's Nugget, McCormick and Schmick's and Triple George Grill.

Without touching any of the lemons, they were scooped them from the cups, placed into a bag and taken to the lab to get the results.

"I was surprised, because I would expect most lemons in most restaurants to come back clean," Francis said.

Four out of the six did.

But the lemon from Triple George Grill contained E. coli.

"Any type of contaminated fruit is a critical violation," said Robert Urzi of the Southern Nevada Health District.

Urzi said the lemon could have come into the restaurant contaminated, or the E. coli could have come from an employee who didn't wash his or her hands after using the bathroom.

There was nothing other than small violations, such as an ice scoop left in a bin, on Triple George's past inspection reports.

The health department visited the restaurant to investigate the E. coli and take action by continuing to monitor the situation.

The other contaminated lemon contained coli form bacteria. There are hundreds of types. The lemon was found at IHOP.

It's less serious bacteria, but it should not be present.

"It indicates a condition that could spread disease," Urzi said.

Restaurant workers should be washing the lemons for at least a minute with a brush, and employees should be washing their hands before slicing and serving.

All of the lab results should have come back clean, he said.

Despite the findings, Triple George said it wasn't aware of any contaminated lemons. The restaurant declined an interview, but said in a statement it takes food handling very seriously.

IHOP said the same thing in a statement.

According to IHOP, there are acceptable levels of coli form bacteria allowed for produce, and those levels vary from state to state and county by county.

In Clark County, home of Las Vegas, there is no acceptable level.

The lemons collected from Olive Garden, El Pollo Loco, Jerry's Nugget and McCormick and Schmick's came back clean.