The CF officials made the statement on completion of its inspection of eight ball pools, including those at IKEA, the Y-17, Kid’s Park, Tom Dragon Castle, Hsin-Yi Foundation, and Taipei Wanhua Sports Center.

The findings indicate that high concentrations of colony forming unit (CFU) were commonly found on the surfaces of the balls tested, and two of the 24 samples recorded 10,000 to 100,000 CFUs, Cheng Jen-hung, chairman of the CF, claimed.

Chen said that colon bacilli and other germs were also found on the balls.

“The ball pools are polluted - and Staphylococcus aureus which causes nausea, vomiting, and food poisoning was also found,” Chen said.

Meanwhile, the results of the investigation also showed that most of the operators failed to provide detailed information on how often they clean the ball pools and how they disinfect the balls and the facilities, said CF’s deputy director Lee Cherh-yu.

“We sincerely hope that the operators will provide consumers with that information,” Lee said. “The consumers need to put pressure on the operators to achieve better management of the pools.”

Hsieh Tien-jen, vice chairman of the CF, stressed that “the operators must clean not only the balls but also the pools thoroughly,” noting that some items such as pencils and hair grips that could be hazardous to children were also seen in the pools.

In order to safeguard customers’ right to information as well as public health, the ball pool operators should improve thieir efforts at cleaning and disinfecting the pools, and should post clearly written rule for the users to follow, Chen urged.

“The authorities also need to regulate the operations” to make every ball pool a pleasant, clean, and safe place for children to play, Chen suggested.

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