Isolation of <i>Bacillus cereus</i>in a Facility Preparing School Meals

• 作者: Angela Michela Immacolata Montone Anna Cutarelli Assunta De Lella Federica Corrado Francesca Garofalo Loredana Biondi Marcella Palomba Rita Nappi Salvatore Capo
• 来源期刊: 食品与营养科学(英文)
• 学科: 数学
• 关键词: Bacillus CEREUS FOOD-BORNE Disease School Meals ENTEROTOXIN Genes
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（3）
• 页码范围: 186-193
• 页数: 8页
• 分类号: O17

摘要

Food safety is a fundamental requirement in mass catering, as large numbers of meals are served each day to potentially vulnerable consumers, such as children. Food Business Operators implement plans for the microbiological monitoring of the meals prepared and served in the catering sector, and for the swab-sampling of surfaces. From January 2018 to June 2019, our laboratory analyzed both food and swab samples from four catering facilities. Considering the EFSA 2018 data, we specifically focused on samples analyzed for Bacillus cereus. Our data substantially showed episodic contamination due to a piece of equipment that is not usually subjected to microbiological control, thus suggesting that every aspect should be scrutinized in order to identify critical points. While Bacillus cereus is widespread in nature and common in soil, it is adapted for growth in the intestinal tracts of insects and mammals. It is often present in a variety of foods, and may cause an emetic or a diarrheal type of food-associated illness. B. cereus produces several toxins. Multiplex PCR enables seven toxin genes to be detected (hblC, hblD, hblA, nheA, nheB, nheC and cytK).