Abstract

Background and Objective: Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of food poisoning. Due to the high consumption of fruit and ice cream in summer, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of S. aureus in traditional ice cream and juice in Gorgan, Iran.

Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted  on 25 places selling traditional ice cream and juice in the summer  of 2014 in Gorgan, Iran.

Results: Results showed that  the microbial contaminants  in traditional ice cream and  juice  centers  were  56%  and 14.28% of S. aureus, 44% and 33.3%  of  yeast, 28% and 28.57%  of B. cereus, 12% and 4.76%  of  Listeria, 8% and 14.28% of Bacillus subtilis and  4% and 4.76%  of  Bacillus licheniformis ,respectively.

Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated a high  contamination of traditional ice cream and juice with Staphylococcus aureus and various microorganisms.

Keywords: Ice Cream, Food Contamination, Staphylococcus Aureus