Schoolgirl's nasty scoop at local dairy

Kim Schultz's Science Fair project was called Is our Ice Cream Clean? Photo / Otago Daily Times

Concerns have been raised that icecream in a cone from the local dairy could contain a nasty surprise.

Kim Schultz, 12, a student at Columba College in Dunedin, has found a disturbing statistic in a humble school science project: that five out of 17 vanilla icecreams bought from Dunedin dairies had E. coli bacteria at levels far in excess of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) guidelines.

Some of the samples had an E. coli count in the millions, when it should have been only 100 per gram, Kim said.

E. coli infection can result in severe stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.

One icecream sample also contained staphylococcus aureus bacteria, which can lead to serious illness.

Chris Hewins, retail sale programme manager for the NZFSA, said consumers should take notice of the hygiene practices where they bought their icecreams.

"It's usually the simple things that get forgotten, hand-washing ... things like hands touching the icecream as it is scooped out, hands that have touched the handle of scoop - the scoop handle gets into the icecream as well, so it's passed on that way."

Storage of the icecream scoop was also important.

It should be kept in running water, or cleaned and dried and put in a box with a lid, Mr Hewins said.

"Some people, if they go into a dairy and see the scoop sitting in a mucky cup of water or something, can put two and two together, and think 'well, maybe the hygiene practices aren't necessarily as I would like them'."

Icecream maker Tip Top said Kim's research raised concerning issues about food handling practices, rather than product quality.

"Tip Top tests every batch of icecream before it leaves the factory, we can assure the safety and quality of our products at each step in production process up to delivery to the retailers," said managing director Alastair de Raadt.

Despite her findings Kim isn't put off eating icecream.

Though she might scoop her own at home from now on.