Ever wondered what the inside of a drinks machine looks like?
Probably not, since it'll put you off ever putting ice in your drink again.
But it could help you avoid some future health issues caused by black irregular maintenance of the machines.
A new Reddit post has revealed something most of us would rather not see.
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On the subreddit /WTF, user highlemonsss shared a clip showing the inside of a fountain drinks machine at a US gas station as he resolves the 'ice or no ice' dilemma.
It has since been upvoted over 11,000 times and received over 900 comments.
In the viral video, the guy fills up his soda cup with ice, then zooms in to show black mould across the machine's grate and the contaminated water dripping through it.
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Seeing that go straight into your cup is enough to turn your stomach.
'No thank you,' he says as he tips out the ice of his cup into the fountain drain. 'I'll take that with no ice, please.'
He then goes to refill his cup with pure soda and no ice. After taking a few sips, he shows the cleaned-up machine and grate, now looking brand new again.
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However, viewers are disgusted at the reality of the situation.
'I never get ice. Leaves more room for soda,' a viewer replied.
'Ice machines at hotels are rarely cleaned and are full of slime,' another user commented. 'Just FYI'.
Another user pointed out their own horror story: 'I worked at a gas station for a year, one of my daily chores was kill as many ants as possible in the cappuccino machine'.
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Someone else mentioned their desensitised nature to the grossness: 'Once you work in the food industry and take health classes, you eventually get desensitized to how disgusting everything is.'
Another user noted how quickly these machines get dirty, writing: 'Every day, every single one of them was visibly moldy.' While easy to clean, they don't get 'daily maintenance on a lot of small neglected gas stations and such.'
To add salt to the wound, scientists found that fast-food soda fountains were serving up high levels of bacteria along with self-serve drinks in Southern California.
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The researchers said vending machines and soda fountains had 'microbial contamination above limits set by the EPA.'
It might be time to stick to soda and skip the ice.