THE BACTERIOLOGY OF ICE CREAM 199 
BacrertaL STANDARDS FOR Icke CREAM 
Bacterial standards for ice cream have been set by various 
cities but it seems that as yet our information regarding the 
bacteriology of ice cream is too meager to admit of the estab- 
lishment of fair and safe standards. In at least one instance, 
however, the institution of a tentative standard was followed 
by a marked decrease in the average bacterial content of the ice 
cream offered for sale. Standards which prohibit the sale 
of ice cream with ‘‘excessive numbers’’ of bacteria undoubt- 
edly are of value and force the manufacturers to give at least 
some attention to the quality of the ingredients used and the 
care employed in the manufacture. Until better methods of 
detecting pathogens in ice cream are available, it does little 
good to prohibit the sale of ice cream ‘‘containing disease- 
produeing bacteria’’, and it seems more advisable to use nu- 
merical standards as the bacterial content gives at least some 
index of the quality of the ingredients and the care used in 
production. 
