Microbial, physical, and chemical quality of packaged ice in Florida

In a statewide survey, ice samples purchased at retail were evaluated for l abeling information and microbiological, chemical, and physical quality. On ly 11% of bags from on-premises manual facilities, compared to 79% for off- premises mechanical facilities, had appropriate label information. One ice sample exceeded the state regulatory limit for aerobic plate count (APC) (< 500 CFU/ml). Yeasts and molds were detected in 12% of the samples. No Liste ria monocytogenes were found in any of the samples. Coliform counts exceedi ng the state regulatory limit (<1/100 ml) were observed in 13.5% of manual, on-premises facilities compared to 3.6% of samples from mechanical, off-pr emises facilities. No significant differences were detected between samples from on- and off-premises facilities with regard to chemical composition ( e.g., aluminum, ammonium, boron, barium, calcium, cadmium, chloride, copper , iron, lead, magnesium, manganese, nickel, nitrate, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, silicon, and zinc), electrical conductivity, or pH. All samples an alyzed were in compliance with appropriate Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards. In general, all ice samples were acceptable in te rms of water hardness values. Approximately 33% of samples from off-premise s facilities and 62% of the on-premises samples had detectable particulate matter. None of the off-premises samples, compared to 8% of the on-premises samples, had particulate matter in the "pronounced" category.