Table 1 Microbial load^a of ice cubes produced at different levels. Results indicate mean values ± SD of four microbiological counts (carried out in duplicate for two independent sample collections). Data within a column followed by the same letter are not significantly different according to Tukey’s test. DF Domestic freezer, SB stock boxes, SP sales packages, n.d. not detected, PAB Pseudomonas agar base for pseudomonads

DF1

1.78 × 10² ± 3.90 × 10 ^B

n.d.

1.00 ± 0.80 ^A

DF2

1.01 × 10² ± 2.60 × 10 ^A

n.d.

4.03 × 10 ± 3.40 ^C

DF3

6.20 × 10³ ± 8.10 × 10^{2 D}

n.d.

1.85 × 10² ± 1.58 × 10 ^E

DF4

9.55 × 10³ ± 1.42 × 10^{3 E}

4.01 × 10² ± 3.08 × 10 ^B

1.95 × 10 ± 7.20 ^B

DF5

2.03 × 10³ ± 4.52 × 10^{2 C}

2.10 × 10² ± 13.5 × 10 ^A

1.60 × 10² ± 1.29 × 10 ^D

Statistical significance

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SB1

3.12 × 10² ± 1.10 × 10^{2 B}

9.90 × 10 ± 1.91 × 10^{2 D}

3.90 × 10² ± 2.07 × 10 ^E

SB2

2.18 × 10² ± 6.70 × 10 ^A

3.25 × 10 ± 2.90 ^B

n.d.

SB3

1.21 × 10³ ± 2.70 × 10^{2 C}

2.23 × 10 ± 5.30 ^E

2.80 ± 0.50 ^B

SB4

6.31 × 10³ ± 8.83 × 10^{2 E}

3.56 × 10² ± 2.23 × 10 ^F

2.20 × 10² ± 2.41 × 10^{2 D}

SB5

2.10 × 10³ ± 1.83 × 10^{2 D}

9.10 × 10 ± 3.9 ^C

5.80 ± 1.00 ^C

Statistical significance

***

***

***

SP1

3.30 × 10² ± 4.37 × 10 ^D

3.03 × 10 ± 6.1 ^C

n.d.

SP2

3.99 × 10³ ± 4.51 × 10^{2 E}

9.60 × 10² ± 5.34 × 10 ^D

3.84 × 10² ± 2.60 × 10 ^D

SP3

3.17 × 10² ± 3.43 × 10 ^C

n.d.

1.13 × 10 ± 2.1 ^B

SP4

1.30 × 10² ± 2.70 × 10 ^A

n.d.

3.93 × 10 ± 4.6 ^C

SP5

1.81 × 10² ± 2.69 × 10 ^B

1.08 × 10 ± 4.4 ^B

n.d.

Statistical significance

***

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Interaction among the production levels (DF × SB × SP)

NS

*

NS