The Survey on the Bacterial Contamination of Traditional & Pasteurized ice Cream Produced in Arak City (summer and fall 2011)

Ice-cream, being full of nutrients and enjoying favorable conditions may cause poisoning and intestinal diseases for the consumers in case of not considering rules of hygiene in the stages of production, maintenance and delivery.It is in fact considered as one of the dairy products providing a suitable environment for the development of different kinds of microorganisms. The purpose of this study was to investigate bacterial contamination found in traditional (unpasteurized) and pasteurized ice-cream in Arak, Markazi province. Regarding sampling, some ice-cream delivery centers were selected randomly across Arak. On the whole,70 samples of unpasteurized ice-creams (traditional) and 40 samples of pasteurized ice-creams weighing 50-100 grams were provided from July to December 2011 during 6 months from confectioneries and ice-cream sellers in different parts of the city. Then the address of the region was written down, and the samples were transmitted to the microbiology laboratory sterilized and frozen. The results showed that 57.14% of the unpasteurized samples were not consumable and the bacteria inside them were as following in terms of frequency: staphylococcus aureus50%,klebsiella54.28%,Escherichia coli 42.85%. Regarding pasteurized ice-creams, 30% of the samples were not consumable and the bacteria inside them were as following in terms of frequency: Escherichia coli 25%, staphylococcus aureus10%,and klebsiella20%.It is important to note that no salmonella was detected in this study. The results show unfavorable situation of traditional and pasteurized ice-creams concerning bacterial contamination.