International Specialty Supply
Supplying Sprout Companies Throughout the World
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International Specialty Supply Supplying Sprout Companies Throughout the World
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820 East 20th Street Cookeville, TN 38501 USA 931 526 1106
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Bacillus cereus Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacteria that can be found in plants and soils. B. cereus food poisoning is the general description, although two recognized types of illness are caused by two distinct metabolites. The diarrheal type of illness is caused by a large molecular weight protein, while the vomiting (emetic) type of illness is believed to be caused by a low molecular weight, heat-stable peptide. In 1973 this organism was linked to one of the first
sprout-associated outbreaks (1, 2, 3). Home-sprouting kits imported into the U. S.
from Switzerland had a mixture of soy, mustard and cress seeds that were
contaminated with B cereus either in pure culture or as a minor part of
the flora. After germination, all the sprouts contained large numbers of the
organism (2). Bacteriologic investigation revealed that during seed germination B. cereus proliferated to >107 per g of sprouts. In 1987, Harmon et al. (4) recovered B. cereus from 57% of commercially sold alfalfa, mung bean, and wheat seeds intended for sprout production.
1.
Feng P. 1997. A Summary of Background
Information and Foodborne Illness Associated With the Consumption of Sprouts.
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Washington. 2.
Taormina PJ, Beuchat LR, Slusker R.
1999. Infections associated with eating seed sprouts: An international concern.
Emerg Infect Dis; 5: 629-634. 3. Portnoy BL, Goepfert
JM, Harmon SM., 1976. An outbreak of Bacillus cereus food poisoning resulting
from contaminated vegetable sprouts. Am J Epidemiol 1976
Jun;103(6):589-94. 4. Harmon SM, Kautter DA, Soloman HM. Bacillus cereus contamination of seeds and vegetable sprouts grown in a home sprouting kit. J Food Protection 1987;50:62-5.
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