Caspian Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 1(9), pp. 14-18, 2012 Available online at http://www.cjasr.com ISSN: 2251-9114, ©2012 CJASR 14 Quality of Commercially Produced Ice Cream Sold in Sylhet City, Bangladesh Sudeb Saha 1 , Anzuman Ara 1 , Mohammad Mehedi Hasan Khan 2* 1 Dept. of Dairy and Poultry Science, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh 2 Dept. of Biochemistry and Chemistry, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet-3100, Bangladesh *Corresponding Author: Email: mehedi2001bdbd@gmail.com Ice cream is a popular dairy product in the world. Its chemical and microbial quality has always been remarkably important to consumer. The aims of this study were to investigate chemical and microbiological quality of ice cream from four companies (Igloo, Kwality, Polar and Baby) sold in Sylhet city, Bangladesh. Total solids (TS), Fat, Protein, Ash, and Acidity content, total viable count and coliform counts were measured Standard procedure. There were highly significant differences (P<0.001) within the chemical parameters of ice cream from different companies. Ice cream from Kwality Company contained 3.48% protein, 36.30% total solids, 13.00% fat, 1.05% ash and 0.22% acidity which were higher than other companies. Total viable bacteria were in the range of 1942cfu/gm to 3692cfu/gm. Coliform counts of the ice cream samples from Igloo, Kwality, Polar and Baby were 16.00, 12.42, 36.17 and 47.17cfu/g respectively. Ice cream from Kwality Company was superior to other companies on the basis of chemical and microbial parameters. Keywords: Ice cream, Chemical quality, Microbial quality. 1. INTRODUCTION Ice cream is a frozen dairy product made by suitable blending and processing of cream and other milk products. It is a nutritionally enriched food item consumed by all age group particularly children during summer season (Sharif et al., 2005). Ice cream production has become a profitable industry due to its recent advances. About 240 different items ice cream are available in world market (Guven and Karaca, 2002). Many under nourished individual who are suffering from lactose intolerance can easily consume yoghurt ice cream (Guner et al., 2007). For instance, ice cream contains two to three times as much fat and slightly more protein than milk. Ice cream is also a good source of calcium, phosphorus and other minerals of vital importance in building bones and teeth (De, 2005). Like milk, consume ice cream supplies essential vitamins which help to normal health and growth. Ice cream is composed of a blend of milk products, sugar, emulsifiers, egg and egg products stabilizers, flavoring and coloring agents. It is also a palatable, popular and favorite food item. Therefore, its demand and popularity has increased in recent years in many countries of the world (Kocak et al., 1998). Ice cream is a tremendous food item for the growth of microorganisms some of them causes disease in human beings e.g. cholera, typhoid, bacillary dyscentry (Ahmed et al., 2009). Contaminated ice cream causes several outbreaks of gastrointestinal infection in a number of countries in Asia, Europe and North America (Dijuretic et al., 1997; Dijuretic and Wall, 1996 and Chug, 1997). In Bangladesh, ice-cream is produced by two ways-locally and the industrial production. Locally means production of ice cream in small scales which follow less proper standard procedure for production. As a result ice cream might be contaminated by primary sources included water and raw milk, whereas secondary sources included flavoring agents, utensils and handling (Ahmed et al., 2009). In industrial production, ice cream can be contaminated during adding some ingredients after pasteurization or improper handling during packaging and marketing. Proper sanitation would minimise the contamination of icecream. Quality of ice cream depends on the manufacture procedure as well as the proportion of ingredients is used for ice cream manufacture (Ahmed et al., 2009). The present research was conducted to determine the chemical and microbiological quality of market ice cream available in Sylhet region, Bangladesh. 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this study one hundred twenty ice-cream samples (cups) were collected randomly from four different companies of available at Sylhet region in Bangladesh. The samples bearing different manufacturing specification were collected from the retail stores in Bangladesh. The collected samples were transported by using ice box. The