The Ice Cream Scoring Contest as a Means of Improving the Quality of Ice Cream

Abstract

Summary 1. The sanitary quality of the 291 samples of ice cream entered in seven annual scoring contests held at the Kansas State Agricultural College, has shown a marked improvement from year to year. With a median count of 200,000 bacteria per gram in 1921 there has been, without exception, a consistent reduction each year to 32,000 in 1927. 2. The samples for each year have been grouped into four classes, excellent, good, medium and poor. A study of these groups reveals a definite improvement in the quality of the ice cream from year to year as evidenced by the increase in the per cent of samples in the better (excellent and good) classes. The per cent of samples classed as having excellent and good body and texture scores increased from 60.7 in 1921 to 64.4 in 1927. By classifying the samples on a basis of the total score minus the score for bacteria count, the excellent and good samples increased from 25.0 per cent in 1921 to 88.8 per cent in 1927. 3. While it is not contended that these scoring contests have been solely responsible for the improvement in the quality of ice cream as evidenced by these data, they have been a contributing factor in the educational program for the ice cream manufacturers of this section of the country. These scoring contests have been of inestimable value to the ice cream manufacturers of this section. The success of the system in this state and the evident improvement in the quality of the ice cream, commends the adoption of a similar plan by other institutions as a part of their educational program.