Abstract

WINDRANTZ, Pal  and  ARIAS, María Laura. Evaluation of the bacteriological quality of ice cream sold at San Jose, Costa Rica. ALAN [online]. 2000, vol.50, n.3, pp.301-303. ISSN 0004-0622.

The presence of total and fecal coliforms, E. coli. Listeria sp and Salmonella sp. was evaluated in 65 samples of both commercial and homemade ice cream. 37,1% of homemade ice cream and 20% of commercial ice cream did not fulfill the international standard for total coliforms. At the same time 82,9% of home made samples and 56,7% of commercial ones presented fecal coliforms. E. coli was found in 51,4% of home made samples and 26,7% of commercial ones. Sixteen Listeria sp. isolates were obtained, 50% corresponded to Listeria monocytogenes and 50% to L. innocua. The overall presence of L. monocytogenes in ice cream samples was of 12,3% and it was isolated in all cases, from homemade ice cream samples. Salmonella was not isolated from the samples analyzed. Although the results obtained show an important improvement in the quality of ice cream, compared with a previous work done also in Costa Rica, further efforts shall be done, in order to offer safe products to consumers.

Keywords : Ice cream; Listeria sp; Salmonella; Escherichia coli; coliforms.