Prevalence and levels of Bacillus cereus emetic toxin in rice dishes randomly collected from restaurants and comparison with the levels measured in a recent foodborne outbreak.
Whereas the prevalence of Bacillus cereus emetic strains in the environment has been shown to be very low, there is a lack of information on the prevalence of its toxin, cereulide, in food. Yet, the rice leftovers of a family outbreak which occurred after the consumption of dishes taken away from an Asian restaurant revealed significant amounts of cereulide, reaching up to 13,200 ng/g of food. The occurrence of cereulide in rice dishes collected from various restaurants was therefore evaluated using the liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry method, which allows for the direct quantification of the toxin in food. The cereulide prevalence was found to be 7.4% when samples were analyzed at the day of sampling, but reached 12.9% when exposed to temperature abuse conditions (25°C). The cereulide concentrations observed in cooked rice dishes were low (approximately 4 ng/g of food). However, since little is known yet about the potential chronic toxicity of cereulide, one needs to be very careful and vigilant.
Food, Medicines, and Consumer Safety, Scientific Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium.
Laurence
L
Delbrassinne
Mirjana
M
Andjelkovic
Katelijne
K
Dierick
Sarah
S
Denayer
Jacques
J
Mahillon
Joris
J
Van Loco
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D001530:Belgium; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D047630:Depsipeptides / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005192:Family Health; D005506:Food Contamination; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D057230:Limit of Detection; D008875:Middle Aged; D012275:Oryza / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000382:microbiology; D012147:Restaurants; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D013696:Temperature; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult
D047630:Depsipeptides; D004768:Enterotoxins; C089294:cereulide