# Microbial Risk Assessment of Industrial Ice Cream Marketed in Italy
## 3 Results  
The results obtained are summarized in Figure 1, while, in Tables S2 and S3, the individual values of each microbiological parameter are detailed for each ice cream sample, with inclusions and without, respectively. The classification of the results divided according to the samples of ice cream with and without inclusions is shown in Table 2.  
Overall, satisfactory values were observed in 195 (\(\sim\)97.5%) samples for the enumeration of aerobic colonies, in 155 (77.5%) samples for the enumeration of _Enterobacteriaceae_ and 192 (96%) samples for the enumeration of coagulase-positive staphylococci. As regards the enumeration of the aerobic colonies, acceptable values were obtained in three (\(\sim\)1.5%) samples, while unsatisfactory values were obtained for two (\(\sim\)1%) samples (see, in Tables S1 and S2, the samples with ID: 77, 139), with the highest observed load of \(7.1\times 10^{5}\) cfu/g. As regards the enumeration of the _Enterobacteriaceae_, acceptable values were obtained in 36 (\(\sim\)18%) samples, while unsatisfactory values were obtained for nine (\(\sim\)4.5%) samples (see, in Tables S1 and S2, the samples with ID: 2, 52, 53, 56, 69, 108, 158, 182, 197), with the highest observed load of 1.6 \(\times\) 10\({}^{4}\) cfu/g. As regards the enumeration of the coagulase-positive staphylococci, acceptable values were obtained in eight (4%) samples, while no unsatisfactory values were observed. All unsatisfactory values were obtained in ice cream samples with inclusions, for the enumeration of both aerobic colonies and _Enterobacteriaceae_. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Parameter**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Recommended Guide Values (cfu/g)**} \\ \cline{2-5}  & **Satisfactory** & **Acceptable** & **Unsatisfactory** & **Potentially Harmful** \\ \hline Aerobic colonies & \textless{}10\({}^{5}\) & \(10^{5}\leq x\leq 5\times 10^{5}\) & \textgreater{}5 \(\times 10^{5}\) & – \\ _Enterobacteriaceae_ & \textless{}10 & \(10\leq x<10^{2}\) & \(\geq\)10\({}^{2}\) & – \\ Coagulase-positive & \textless{}10\({}^{2}\) & \(10^{2}\leq x<10^{4}\) & \(\geq\)10\({}^{4}\) & \(\geq\)10\({}^{5}\) \\ _Listeria monocytogenes_ & Not detected & \(\leq\)10\({}^{2}\) & – & \(>\)10\({}^{2}\) \\ _Salmonella_ spp. & Not detected & – & – & Detected \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Recommended values for determining the acceptability levels of different microbiological parameters used as quality and safety indices of the ice cream according to the guidelines provided by the Interdepartmental Center for Research and Documentation on Food Safety (Ce.I.R.S.A). Salmonella spp. was not detected in any of the samples, while the presence of _L. monocytogenes_ was detected in a total of 16 (\(\sim\)8%) samples (see, in Tables S1 and S2, the samples with ID: 3, 9, 15, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 88, 108, 139, 148, 163, 182, 197), all ice creams with inclusions. Among the positive samples, the critical limit of 100 cfu of _L. monocytogenes_ per g of product was exceeded in three samples (\(\sim\)1.5%) (see, in Tables S1 and S2, the samples with ID: 56, 60, 139) with loads of 110, 120 and 350 cfu/g, respectively. The presence of _L. monocytogenes_ was detected in five samples that had also unsatisfactory values of