Can Ice Cream Cause Diarrhea and Food Poisoning?

Produce like lettuce and melon is prone to foodborne illnesses if you don’t wash them properly. But harmful bacteria can affect more than fruits and vegetables — they can also thrive on frozen dairy desserts. Here’s how ice cream can cause diarrhea and other gut issues.
Causes How Does Melted Ice Cream Cause Diarrhea? Letting a tub of ice cream sit outside the freezer for too long can affect your health. “Ice cream melts fairly rapidly at room temperature, and the milky, sugary, liquid concoction is the perfect petri dish for bacteria like listeria,” Amreen Bashir, PhD , a lecturer in Biomedical Science at Aston University in Birmingham, England, writes in The Conversation.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629429216c4-f2de-43ef-97fb-c8c9638caa6a Even if ice cream has melted and been refrozen, it’s at risk of growing listeria, which can cause illness and symptoms like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629a2ba7232-ebea-4e35-9e22-d657c66f699e Plus, the freezer temperatures won’t kill already-existing bacteria.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629999e838c-69b2-42a6-a764-fb2bd1ca89d7 Ice cream that has melted and been refrozen during the manufacturing or shipping process, or ice cream that’s been made at home, can also grow harmful bacteria.
Ingredients Prone to Bacteria Why Is Ice Cream Prone to Bacteria? There are a few key ingredients that make ice cream prone to bacterial growth, including the following: Eggs Commercially manufactured ice cream that contains egg products can be susceptible to salmonella infection, a common harmful bacterium.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762923ff1af7-cdb6-424a-8b12-37d73584103b If a product is made without pasteurized eggs or the final product isn’t pasteurized — aka it hasn’t undergone heat-treatment to destroy pathogenic microorganisms — it can lead to foodborne illness.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629f6d787fa-e602-4357-98bc-8fb134c9a855 Milk and Cream Milk is the base for most dairy-based ice creams, but it has a high propensity for spoiling. It can also be a conduit for bacterial contamination, like salmonella, E. coli , and listeria, especially if it’s unpasteurized or raw.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976298d5a59d0-cd5e-406c-9ca2-8fd0ae571610
Food Poisoning Symptoms Symptoms of Food Poisoning From Ice Cream If you ingest harmful bacteria in melted or spoiled ice cream, you can develop food poisoning. Symptoms can include fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps, which, depending on the type of bacteria, can start within hours or days after eating the contaminated food.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629d6f29adc-ed0f-4d1d-83d0-38538880a8ff Most people recover from food poisoning without treatment, but if you have worsening symptoms or are immunocompromised, seek medical attention.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e5976294e51dcfb-741b-481a-9efa-185dd5e51516
Prevention Preventing Food Poisoning From Ice Cream Bashir says there are a few things you can do to prevent the risk of food poisoning and diarrhea from ice cream, including: Avoid double-dipping into a tub of ice cream. Scoop your ice cream with clean utensils. If your ice cream melts or thaws completely, throw it away. Keep ice cream frozen at all times. Avoid ice cream with unpasteurized ingredients (like eggs or milk). If making ice cream at home, make sure to use pasteurized products. Another tip: Put the ice cream container right back in the freezer after you fill up your bowl, to reduce the chances of it melting. And never double-dip — if it’s no longer frozen, toss it, says Bashir.
Refreezing Signs How to Tell if Ice Cream Has Been Refrozen If you’re shopping for a pint of ice cream at the grocery store, there are some signs that the container has melted and then been refrozen. For example, the container may look firmer or sticky from refrozen condensation. Plus, the ice cream itself might have large, crunchy crystals on top, aka freezer burn.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e59762928c64945-336b-4db3-add1-679fe1c7274e Ice cream that’s been in the freezer for a long time might have freezer burn, but overall, this type is safe to eat. The flavor, however, may not be the same.e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629c856c315-bb43-4c09-b08f-557685850d0e The Takeaway Dairy products can be prone to developing harmful bacteria like listeria, E. coli , and salmonella if unpasteurized or left out for too long. Ice cream can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever if spoiled or melted. The eggs and milk in these dairy products can become spoiled, and refreezing them cannot kill bacteria. Food poisoning symptoms can start within hours or days of eating contaminated food. You can tell that ice cream has melted and been refrozen if it’s crystallized or the container is sticky.