Ice Cream
Practical Action
Figure 2: Small ice cream maker
(Courtesy of Musso ice cream machines)
Figure 3: Commercial ice cream maker
(Courtesy of Robot Coupe)
Quality assurance
The quality and amounts of dairy ingredients and the processing conditions that are used for
making ice cream should be standardised so that consistent quality products are made each
time. This involves control of factors in the process that affect the quality or safety of the
product. These are known as ‘control points’ and are the points at which checks and
measurements should be made (Table 3).
HACCP2
The specific potential hazards in making ice cream are food poisoning bacteria from the dairy
ingredients, poor hygiene and sanitation during processing, and incorrect processing conditions.
Other hazards that are common to all types of food processing (including contamination of foods
by insects, glass etc.) are prevented by correct quality assurance, including the design and
operation of the processing facilities, staff training in hygiene and production methods, and
correct cleaning and maintenance procedures.
Hygiene
Technical Brief: Dairy Processing - An Overview gives details of hygiene and sanitation, the
design of a dairy and the use of correct cleaning procedures. Hygiene requirements are also
described in Technical Brief: Hygiene and Safety Rules in Food Processing.
Avoiding food poisoning
Unclean equipment, contaminated ingredients, poor hygiene of production staff, and incorrect
processing and storage conditions can each lead to bacteria contaminating the ice cream.
Although the low temperatures during frozen storage prevent the bacteria from growing, they can
cause illness when the ice cream is eaten. All equipment should be thoroughly cleaned after use
and checked before production starts again. The temperature and time of heating the ingredient
mixture should be monitored and controlled to ensure that it is not over- or under-heated.
2 Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point
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