title: Quantitative Prevalence and Toxin Gene Profile of Bacillus cereus from Ready-to-Eat Vegetables in South Korea.
abstract: Ready-to-eat (RTE) foods such as prepared vegetables are becoming an increasingly popular food choice. Since RTE vegetables are not commonly sterilized by heat treatment, contamination with foodborne pathogens such as Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) is a major concern. The objective of this study was to assess the quantitative prevalence and toxin gene profiles of B. cereus strains isolated from RTE vegetables. We found that 70 of the 145 (48%) tested retail vegetable salad and sprout samples were positive for B. cereus. The B. cereus isolates harbored at least one enterotoxin gene. The detection rates of nheABC, hblCDA, cytK, and entFM enterotoxin genes among all isolates were 97.1%, 100%, 81.4%, and 98.6%, respectively. No strain carried the emetic toxin genes. Only 4 strains (5.7%) from the 70 isolates were psychrotrophic and were able to grow at 7°C. All of the psychrotrophic isolates possessed at least 1 enterotoxin gene.
authors: 1 Department of Animal Science and Technology, Konkuk University , Seoul, Korea.
authors: Jung-Whan
authors: JW
authors: Chon
authors: 2 KU Center for Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University , Seoul, Korea.
authors: Jin-Hyeok
authors: JH
authors: Yim
authors: 2 KU Center for Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University , Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hong-Seok
authors: HS
authors: Kim
authors: 2 KU Center for Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University , Seoul, Korea.
authors: Dong-Hyeon
authors: DH
authors: Kim
authors: 3 Department of Food and Nutrition, Hanyang University , Seoul, Korea.
authors: Hyunsook
authors: H
authors: Kim
authors: 4 Department of Food Science and Biotechnology, Kangwon National University , Chuncheon, Korea.
authors: Deog-Hwan
authors: DH
authors: Oh
authors: 1 Department of Animal Science and Technology, Konkuk University , Seoul, Korea.
authors: Soo-Ki
authors: SK
authors: Kim
authors: 2 KU Center for Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University , Seoul, Korea.
authors: Kun-Ho
authors: KH
authors: Seo
mesh_terms: D001409:Bacillus cereus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000032:analysis*; D057140:Fast Foods / Q000382:microbiology*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014675:Vegetables / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins; C040792:enterotoxin, Bacillus cereus