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                            Original Research
                            
                            
                            7. 
                            
                            Bacteriological quality of icecream marketed in 
                            Thrissur town, Kerala, India -
                            
                            
                            R Ambily, A K Beena
                            Vet World. 2012; 5(12): 738-741
              
               
              
              doi: 
              10.5455/vetworld.2012.7
38-741
              
              
               
              
              
              
   
 
              
               
               
               
              
              
              Abstract
              
              
                            Aim: 
                            To assess the bacteriological quality of ice creams 
                            marketed in Thrissur town, Kerala. 
              
                             Materials and 
                            Methods: Twenty seven ice cream samples randomly 
                            collected from selected retail outlets and street 
                            vendors in the town over a period of two months were 
                            analyzed for total viable count and for the presence 
                            of coliforms, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus 
                            aureus, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes.
                            Results: Total Viable Count ranged from 1.2 x 
                            102 to 8.2 x 103 cfu/g in industrial brands whereas 
                            in street vendor samples it was high in the range of 
                            5.2 x 105 to 6.6 x 106 cfu/g. Coliform counts were 
                            high in 30 % of the samples. 27 % of the samples had 
                            high Staphylococcal count. E coli were isolated from 
                            two samples from street vendors and Salmonella spp. 
                            from one of the samples. Listeria spp. was not 
                            isolated from any of the samples. Conclusion: The 
                            presence of potential pathogens in the ice cream 
                            samples reveals the significance of implementation 
                            of quality control measures in marketing ice creams 
                            thus reducing the public health hazards. 
                            Keywords: Coliform count, Ice-cream, Salmonella 
                            spp., Staphylococcal count