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Measuring the Quality of Ice Cream¹

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Manhattan

ABSTRACT

1. The standard plate count, the minimum amount of sample containing Escherichia-Aerobacter organisms, the phosphatase test, the butterfat test, the weight per gallon, and the flavor, body and texture, color and package scores were determined on 318 samples of ice cream collected from over 300 Kansas ice cream manufacturers during July, 1938.
   
2. Standard plate counts of 100,000 or less per ml. were obtained on 59.8 per cent of all samples. A slightly larger percentage of the ice cream samples from counter-freezer operators than from wholesale manufacturers was in the lower count ranges.
   
3. Samples for which the standard plate count was 200,000 or less per ml. tended to have a high total score minus bacterial score, but when the count exceeded 200,000 per ml. no relationship between count and score was apparent.
   
4. A tendency for the standard plate count to increase as the smallest amount of ice cream containing Escherichia-Aerobacter organisms decreased was noted.
   
5. Only 17 of the 313 samples tested were positive to the phosphatase test. If suitable controls had not been run, 126 other samples would have been considered under-pasteurized or contaminated by unpasteurized dairy products.
   
6. The 17 samples positive to the phosphatase test were more or less unsatisfactory because of high standard plate count, large content of Escherichia-Aerobacter organisms, total score minus bacterial score or a combination of these three criteria.
   
7. Only 26 samples were found to contain less than 10 per cent butterfat. A tendency for samples of high butterfat content to have a high total score minus bacterial score was established.
   
8. A weight of 4.50 to 5.49 pounds per gallon was most frequently associated with high body and texture score; both lighter and heavier samples tended to be less desirable from this standpoint.
   
9. Despite certain relationships between the results obtained by use of the different determinations, there were enough instances in which these relationships did not hold to show that the use of a variety of tests and determinations is necessary in order to ascertain the true quality of a sample of ice cream.
   

¹ Contribution No. 130 from the Department of Dairy Husbandry and No. 182 from the Department of Bacteriology.