Investigation of Contamination with Escherichia Coli and Salmonella in Ice Cream and Traditional Carrot Juice of Shahriar City, Tehran

Juice and ice cream are one of the most common drinks and desserts loved by the people of the world, and due to having all the micronutrients, minerals and vitamins, it provides a significant part of the body's needs and is a suitable source for compensating the water lost in the body due to heat or sports activities and are very popular among children and teenagers. However, the contamination of these products can cause risks; Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the level of contamination with Escherichia coli and Salmonella in carrot juice and traditional ice cream offered in Shahryar city.

In this study, 200 samples of traditional fruit juice and ice cream were randomly collected in the centers where these products are sold and transferred to the specialized laboratory of food hygiene and quality control, and according to the standard tests, the target microorganisms were searched. For this study, Chi-square statistical test and SPSS version 26 software were used.

The results showed that the amount of Escherichia coli and Salmonella contamination in carrot juice was 11% and 38% respectively, and traditional ice creams were 7% and 16% respectively.

According to the amount of contamination obtained from this research, the cause of contamination was probably the use of raw materials with high microbial load and also non-observance of employees' personal hygiene.