Microbiological Quality Assessment of Dairy Desserts Sold in New Valley Governorate

A hundred fifty randomly collected samples of ice cream, rice pudding and mahlabia (50 samples each) from different localities in El-Dakhla city, New Valley Governorate, Egypt, were microbiologically examined. The average counts of the aerobic plate, psychrotrophic bacteria, total coliforms , fecal coliforms , Staphylococcus aureus counts and yeast and mold in the examined ice-cream samples were 6.47 × 10 6 , 9.17 × 10 5 , 5.23 × 10 6 , 2.73 × 10 6 , 1.05 × 10 7 , 1.97 × 10 6 and 1.04 × 10 6 CFU/ml, respectively. While, in rice pudding samples the average counts of the aerobic plate, total coliforms , fecal coliforms , Staphylococcus aureus counts and yeast and mold were 1.17 × 10 7 , 6.99 × 10 6 , 5.35 × 10 6 , 1.37 × 10 7 , 9.81 × 10 6 and 5.32 × 10 6 CFU/ml, respectively, while in mahlabia samples, the counts were 6.44 × 10 6 , 3.04 × 10 6 , 2.06 × 10 6 , 8.19 × 10 6 , 7.09 × 10 5 and 7.40 × 10 6 CFU/ml, respectively. Escherichia coli was detected in 20, 16, and 10% in ice cream, rice pudding and mahlabia samples, respectively. All the examined samples in this study were negative for anaerobes. In conclusion, strict hygienic measures should be followed during the production and handling of milk products with health education programs for producers and handlers.