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A total of thirty ice cream samples were collected from local market of Allahabad. The samples included
two varieties, based on their flavours they were categorized in plain and mixed. Fifteen samples each
from local manufacturers and brands were microbiologically examined. Dilutions of 10-3 and 10-5 for
plain and mixed samples respectively were inoculated in Nutrient Agar plates for aerobic mesophilic
count. The average aerobic mesophilic count was 2.0 cfu/g for the branded samples with a maximum
bacterial growth of 10 cfu/g in the mixed ice cream samples. These results for locally manufactured ice
cream samples were reported as, an average bacterial growth of 14.12 cfu/g with a maximum
contamination of 33 cfu/g. Mac-Conkey’s single and double strength broths were used for TCC and FCC.
Average TCC for both flavours of industrially produced ice creams was 0.21 cfu/100ml, with average
FCC of 0.09 cfu/100ml for mixed and 0.04 cfu/100ml for plain samples. Local samples gave a varied
result with average TCC as 0.60 cfu/100ml for plain and 3.11/100ml for flavoured and average FCC was
reported as 0.23 cfu/100ml for mixed samples and 2.50 cfu/100ml for plain samples. 20% out of total 15
plain samples of local ice cream were reported positive for the presence of E. coli. Thus good hygienic
practice improves the hygienic quality of ice cream especially in all steps, post pasteurization and at the
retail level.
Keywords: Ice cream, microbiological examination, MPN, TCC, FCC, E. coli.