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Chapter 10: Bacillus Cereus

Updated: 07/18/07
Potential Food Safety Hazard Contents
Food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus may occur when foods are prepared and held without adequate refrigeration for several h before serving. B. cereus is an aerobic spore forming bacterium that is commonly found in soil, on vegetables, and in many raw and processed foods. Consumption of foods that contain ³ 106 B. cereus/g may result in food poisoning. Foods incriminated in past outbreaks include cooked meat and vegetables, boiled or fried rice, vanilla sauce, custards, soups, and raw vegetable sprouts. Two types of illness have been attributed to the consumption of foods contaminated with B. cereus. The first and better known is characterized by abdominal pain and diarrhea; it has an incubation period of 4-16 h and symptoms that last for 12-24 h. The second, which is characterized by an acute attack of nausea and vomiting, occurs within 1-5 h after consumption of contaminated food; diarrhea is not a common feature in this type of illness (Rhodehamel and Harmon, 1998).

Control Measures Contents
B. cereus is a common food contaminant. Effective control measures depend on destruction by a heat process and temperature control to prevent spore germination and multiplication of vegetative cells in cooked, ready-to-eat foods. Measures to reduce or eliminate the threat of food poisoning by B. cereus include: 1) Avoid preparing food too far in advance of planned service, 2) Avoid holding cooked foods at room temperature, 3) Use quick chill methods to cool foods below 7.2 ºC (45ºF) within 4 h of preparation; store in shallow pans/small quantities with the food less than 4 inches (10.2 cm) deep; if food is especially thick (e.g., refried beans), store no more than 3 inches [7.6 cm] deep). Hold/store hot foods above 60ºC (140ºF) until served, and 5) Reheat foods rapidly to 74ºC (165ºF) or above (Kramer and Gilbert, 1989; Reed, 1994).

FDA Guidelines Contents
FDA to assess situations on a case by case basis.

Growth Contents
Table A-1. Limiting conditions for pathogen growth.

Heat Resistance Contents
B. cereus spore heat resistance.

Temperature

D-Values
(min.)

Medium

References

(oC)

(oF)

90

194

21-137

Water

Gilbert et al., 1974

95

203

5-36

Water

Gilbert et al., 1974

100

212

6.7-8.3

Water

Gilbert et al., 1974

Analytical Procedures Contents
Food sampling and preparation of sample homogenate (USFDA) Contents
Definition of Terms (HC Appendix A); Collection of samples (HC Appendix B); Supplement to All Methods in the HC Compendium: General Microbiological Guidance (HC Appendix I)  General Microbiological guidance on Pre-warming of Broths in All Qualitative Methods in the [HC] Compendium (HC Supplement to Appendix I) Contents
Bacillus cereus (USFDA) Contents
Isolation and enumeration of Bacillus cereus in foods (HC MFLP-42) Contents
Bacillus cereus diarrheal enterotoxin (USFDA) Contents
Other analytical procedures Contents
  • Bacillus cereus in foods: Enumeration and confirmation microbiological methods (AOAC, 1995a).
  • Differentiation of members of Bacillus cereus group: Microbiological method (AOAC, 1995b).
Commercial Test Products Contents
Commercial test products for B. cereus.
Test Kit Analytical Technique Approx. Total Test Time1 Supplier
Bacillus cereus Test
[A presumptive test for Bacillus cereus.] 		Uses prepared traditional media

24 h

Biomedix
Contact: Claver Bundac
1105 #F North Golden Springs Dr.
Diamond Bar, CA 91765
Phone: 800/674-8648 #4282; 909/396-0244  
E-mail: cb4biomedx@aol.com
BCET-RPLA TD950 
[Used to identify B. cereus diarrheal enterotoxin] 		Reversed passive latex agglutination 24 h (food) 
48 h (bacterial culture) 		Oxoid, Inc. 
Contact: Jim Bell 
217 Colonnade Rd. 
Nepean, Ontario K2E 7K3 
Canada 
Phone: 613/226-1318 
E-mail: jbell@oxoid.ca
CRA Bacillus diarrheal Enterotoxin VIA 
[Used to detect GDE toxin and Bacillus spp. capable of producing enterotoxin] 		ELISA 4-24 h InternationalBioProducts 
Contact: Mike Yeager
14780 NE 95th St. Redmond, WA 98052 
Phone: 425/861-4918 
E-mail: myeager@intlbioproducts.com
Web: intlbioproducts.com
1Includes enrichment

References Contents
Andrews, W.H., and June, G.A. 1998. Food sampling and preparation of sample homogenate, Ch. 1. In Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th ed. (revision A), (CD-ROM version). R.L. Merker (Ed.). AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD.

AOAC. 1995a. Bacillus cereus in foods: Enumeration and confirmation microbiological methods. Sec. 17.8.01, Method 980.31. In Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International, 16th ed., P.A. Cunniff (Ed.), 52-54.AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD.

AOAC. 1995b. Differentiation of members of Bacillus cereus group: Microbiological method. Sec. 17.8.02, Method 983.26. In Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International, 16th ed., P.A. Cunniff (Ed.), 54-55.AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD.

Bennett, R.W. 1998. Bacillus cereus diarrheal enterotoxin. Ch. 15. In Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th ed. (revision A), (CD-ROM version). R.L. Merker (Ed.). AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD.

Bennett, R. W., and S. M. Harmon. 1988. Bacillus cereus food poisoning. In Laboratory Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases: Principles and Practice, Vol. I, pp. 83-93. A. Balows, W. J. Hausler, Jr., M. Ohashi, and A. Turano (Eds). Springer-Verlag, New York.

Casman, E. P., R. W. Bennett, A. E. Dorsey, and J. E. Stone. 1969. The micro-slide gel double diffusion test for the detection and assay of staphylococcal enterotoxins. Health Lab. Sci. 6:185-198.

Cochran, W. G. 1950. Estimation of bacterial densities by means of the "most probable number." Biometrics 6:105-116.

Crowle, A. J. 1958. A simplified micro double-diffusion agar precipitin technique. J. Lab. Clin. Med. 52:784.

de Man, J. C. 1983. MPN tables, corrected. Eur. J. Appl. Biotechnol. 17:301-305.

Eisenhart, C., and P. W. Wilson. 1943. Statistical methods and control in bacteriology. Bacteriol. Rev. 7:57-137.

Garthright, W. E. 1993. Bias in the logarithm of microbial density estimates from serial dilutions. Biom. J. 35: 3, 299-314.

Garthright, W.E. 1998. Most probable number determination from serial dilutions. Appendix 2. In Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th ed. (revision A), App. 2, (CD-ROM version). R.L. Merker (Ed.). AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD.

Gilbert, R.J., Stringer, M.F., and Pearce, J.M. 1974. The survival and growth of Bacillus cereus in boiled and fried rice in relation to outbreaks of food poisoning. J. Hyg. 73:433-444.

Halvorson, H. O., and N. R. Ziegler. 1933. Application of statistics to problems in bacteriology. J. Bacteriol. 25:101-121; 26:331-339; 26:559-567.

Kramer, J.M. and Gilbert, J.M. 1989. Bacillus cereus and other Bacillus species. Ch. 2, In Foodborne Bacterial Pathogens, M.P.Doyle (Ed.), p. 21-70. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York.

Lancette, G. A., and S. M. Harmon. 1980. Enumeration and confirmation of Bacillus cereus in foods: Collaborative study. J. Assoc. Off. Anal. Chem. 63:581-586.

McCrady, M. H. 1915. The numerical interpretation of fermentation-tube results. J. Infect. Dis. 17:183-212.

McFarland, J. 1907. The nephelometer: An instrument for estimating the number of bacteria in suspensions used for calculating the opsonic index and for vaccines. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 49:1176.

Merker, R.L. (Ed.). 1998. Media and reagents, Appendix 3. In Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th ed. (revision A), (CD-ROM version). AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD.

Peeler, J. T., G. A. Houghtby, and A. P. Rainosek. 1992. The most probable number technique. In Compendium of Methods for the Microbiological Examination of Foods, 3rd ed. C. Vanderzant and D. F. Splittstoesser (Ed.), p. 105-120. American Public Health Association, Washington, DC.

Reed, G.H. 1994. Foodborne illness (Part 4): Bacillus cereus gastroenteritis. Dairy, Food, and Environmental San. 14(2):87.

Rhodehamel, E.J., and Harmon, S.M. 1998. Bacillus cereus. Ch.14. In Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual, 8th ed. (revision A), (CD-ROM version. R.L. Merker (Ed.). AOAC International, Gaithersburg, MD.

Thomas, H.A. 1942. Bacterial densities from fermentation tube tests. J. Am. Water Works Assoc. 34:572-576.

Woodward, R. L. 1957. How probable is the most probable number? J. Am. Water Works Assoc. 49:1060-1068.

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Updated: 07/18/07

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