Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:58:14.195Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The survival and growth of Bacillus cereus in boiled and fried rice in relation to outbreaks of food poisoning

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

R. J. Gilbert ,
M. F. Stringer  and
T. C. Peace
R. J. Gilbert
Affiliation:
Food Hygiene Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
M. F. Stringer
Affiliation:
Food Hygiene Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
T. C. Peace
Affiliation:
Food Hygiene Laboratory, Central Public Health Laboratory, Colindale Avenue, London NW9 5HT
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A number of outbreaks of food poisoning attributed to Bacillus cereus have been reported recently and all have been associated with cooked rice usually from Chinese restaurants and ‘take-away’ shops.

Tests were made to assess the heat resistance of B. cereus spores in aqueous suspension, the growth of the organism in boiled rice stored at temperatures in the range 4–55° C., and the effect of cooking and storage on the growth of the organism in boiled and fried rice. The spores of B. cereus survived cooking and were capable of germination and outgrowth. The optimum temperature for growth in boiled rice was between 30° and 37° C. and growth also occurred during storage at 15° and 43° C.

To prevent further outbreaks it is suggested that rice should be boiled in smaller quantities on several occasions during the day, thereby reducing the storage time before frying. After boiling the rice should either be kept hot (> 63° C.) or cooled quickly and transferred to a refrigerator within 2 hr. of cooking. Boiled or fried rice must not be stored under warm conditions especially in the range 15–50° C.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 73 , Issue 3 , December 1974 , pp. 433 - 444
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1974

References

REFERENCES

Briggs, A. (1966). The resistance of spores of the genus Bacillus to phenol, heat and radiation. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 29, 490.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goepfert, J. M., Spira, W. M. & Kim, H. U. (1972). Bacillus cereus: food poisoning organism. A review. Journal of Milk and Food Technology 35, 213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gordon, R. E. & Smith, M. M. (1955). Proposed group of characters for the separation of Streptomyces and Nocardia. Journal of Bacteriology 69, 147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hauge, S. (1950). Matforgiftninger fremkalt av Bacillus cereus. Nordisk Hygienisk Tidskrift 31, 189.Google Scholar
Hauge, S. (1955). Food poisoning caused by aerobic spore-forming bacilli. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 18, 591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jantea, F., Milosescu, P., Bistriceanu, E. & Bad-Oprisescu, D. (1965). Incidenta Bac. cereus in preparate culinare. Microbiologia Parazitologia Epidemiologia 10, 163.Google Scholar
Kim, H. U. & Goepfert, J. M. (1971). Occurrence of Bacillus cereus in selected dry food products. Journal of Milk and Food Technology 34, 12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lefebvre, A., Gregoire, C. A., Brabant, W. & Todd, E. (1973). Suspected Bacillus cereus food poisoning. Epidemiological Bulletin, Canada 17, 108.Google Scholar
Long, S. K. & Williams, O. B. (1958). Method for removal of vegetative cells from bacterial spore preparations. Journal of Bacteriology 76, 332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miles, A. A. & Misra, S. S. (1938). The estimation of the bactericidal power of the blood. Journal of Hygiene 38, 732.Google ScholarPubMed
Mol, J. H. H. (1957). The temperature characteristics of spore germination and growth of Bacillus cereus. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 20, 454.Google Scholar
Molin, N. & Snygg, B. G. (1967). Effect of lipid materials on heat resistance of bacterial spores. Applied Microbiology 15, 1422.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mortimer, P. R. & McCann, G. (1974). Food poisoning episodes associated with Bacillus cereus in fried rice. Lancet i, 1043.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mossel, D. A. A., Koopman, M. J. & Jongerius, E. (1967). Enumeration of Bacillus cereus in foods. Applied Microbiology 15, 650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murrell, W. G. & Warth, A. D. (1965). Composition and heat resistance of bacterial spores. In Spores(ed. Campbell, L. L. and Halverson, H. O.), vol. iii, p. 1. Ann Arbor, Michigan: American Society for Microbiology.Google Scholar
Navani, S. K., Scholefield, J. & Kibby, M. R. (1970). A digital computer program for the statistical analysis of heat resistance data applied to Bacillus stearothermophilus. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 33, 609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nygren, B. (1962). Phospholipase C-producing bacteria and food poisoning. Actapathologica et microbiologica scandinavica, Supplementum 160, 1.Google Scholar
Perry, J. (1974). Food poisoning from fried rice. Environmental Health 82, 50.Google Scholar
Public Health Laboratory Service (1972). Food poisoning associated with Bacillus cereus. British Medical Journal i, 189.Google Scholar
Public Health Laboratory Service (1973). Bacillus cereus food poisoning. British Medical Journal iii, 647.Google Scholar
Rose, A. H. (1968). Chemical Microbiology, 2nd ed., p. 253. London: Butterworths and Co. (Publishers) Ltd.Google Scholar