Abstract:Ice cream is absolutely one of the most popular and favorite food product for Palestinian children and adults.However, it is one of the most favorable foods for bacterial growth and potential source of food poisoning. The main objective of this work was to determine the bacteriological quality of packaged ice cream sold in Gaza city. One hundred samples of traditional sealed packaged ice cream were collected randomly from 20 different food stores of Gaza city. The samples represented all types of ice cream products in the local markets; they included chocolate, fruits, nuts and fruits flavor types. Bacteriological quality was assessed through the examination of collected ice cream samples for total aerobic count, coliform and fecal coliform, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter sakazakii, Escherichia coli, Listeria ivanovii and L. grayi. Results revealed that many ice cream samples were contaminated with coliform, fecal coliform, E. coli, S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, E. sakazakii, L. grayi and L. ivanovii. Repeated electricity shuts for long periods in addition to poor handling of such perishable products may be the cause of their contamination. It is recommended to launch awareness programs to minimize the contamination of ice cream products.

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