• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.232-237
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• 2006

Bacillus cereus group comprising B. cereus, B. thuringiensis, and B. mycoides was differentiated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and colony morphology. Prevalence of B. cereus group in rice and distribution of enterotoxin genes were determined as possible food poisoning agents. PCR using primers targeted for gyrB and cry genes could distinguish B. thuringiensis from B. cereus, and B. mycoides was differentiated by rhizoid morphological characteristics on nutrient agar. Among 136 rice and their processed products, prevalence of B. cereus group was 40%. B. cereus group consisted of 54 B. cereus, 11 B. thuringiensis, and 1 B. mycoides. Major isolates were B. cereus, with B. thuringiensis detected up to 10% among edible rice tested. Five enterotoxin genes, hbl, nhe, bceT, entFM, and cytK, were broadly distributed among B. cereus group, especially in B. cereus and B. thuringiensis. Prevalence of B. cereus group in rice and enterotoxin distribution suggest B. thuringiensis and B. cereus are toxigenic strain that should be controlled in rice and its products.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2009

Contamination levels of aerobic colony counts, coliforms and pathogenic bacteria were tested in fried rice dishes to monitor quality for risk management. The prevalence of Bacillus cereus in dishes from 8 Chinese-style restaurants and 2 institutional foodservices was 10%, and the bacteria's contamination levels was 3.47 log CFU/g. Echerichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella were not detected in any of the 10 samples. However, for their aerobic colony counts and numbers of isolated coliforms, the samples were 30% and 70% over the microbial criteria, respectively, for ready-to-eat foods presented in the Korean Food Code. This suggests that fried rice dishes, although cooked with oil at high temperature, require special care. For the prediction of the growth curve of B. cereus spp. in the fried rice samples, an experiment design of 3 storage temperatures ($7^{\circ}C$, $35^{\circ}C$, $57^{\circ}C$) x 5 storage times (0 h, 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, 24 h) was applied. The sample exposed to $35^{\circ}C$ showed no B. cereus spp. at 0 h; however, there was a tendency of slow growth (1.0 log CFU/g) after 4 hours of storage and then faster growth at 6 h (3.7 log CFU/g) and 12 h (4.7 log CFU/g), showing a growth rate of 0.56 log CFU/g/hr. These results indicate that fried rice, despite being heat-treated, can become heavily contaminated with B. cereus spp. when held over 2 hours at room temperature. However, the samples stored at $7^{\circ}C$ and $57^{\circ}C$ over 24 hours were not contaminated with B. cereus. Based on these results, management guidelines for controlling B. cereus are suggested.

• Journal of the FoodService Safety
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.9-18
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• 2020

B. cereus-produced cereulide as an emetic toxin is commonly isolated in starch-based cooked foods. This study examined the prevalence of B. cereus from ready-to-eat foods in markets by polymerase chain reaction analysis and determined the relationship between the level of B. cereus and the quantity of cereulide in the sample after different storage times and temperatures. The prevalence of general B. cereus in 43 starch foods was 32.6%, and the level of B. cereus ranged from 0.5 to 1.95 log cfu/g, meeting the Korea Food Code Specifications of 3 log CFU/g of B. cereus. No samples revealed emetic B. cereus. Fried rice samples were inoculated with a cereulide-producing reference strain, B. cereus NCCP 14796, to determine the level of B. cereus and the quantity of cereulide in the samples after storage for 0, 4, 6, 8, 20, 24, 30, 48, 72, and 96 h at 7, 25, 35, and 57℃. The average levels of B. cereus at 7, 25, 35, and 57℃ were 4.38, 7.31, 7.88, and 3.82 log cfu/g, and the levels of cereulide were 150.41, 1680.70, 2652.65, and 77.83 ㎍/mL, respectively, showing a significant difference according to the incubation time (P<0.05) and temperature (P<0.001).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.45 no.7
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• pp.1035-1040
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• 2016

This study investigated the prevalence of foodborne pathogens and the bacterial community of traditional Doenjang collected from a longevity area in Korea as well as the antagonistic effect of traditional Doenjang isolates against Bacillus cereus to estimate the microbiological safety of traditional Doenjang. Aerobic bacteria showed $10^6{\sim}10^9CFU/g$, whereas coliform bacteria was not detected. Foodborne pathogens were not detected except B. cereus, which was detected in seven samples out of 10 Doenjang samples. A total of 327 isolates were identified from traditional Doenjang. The isolates consisted of Bacillus subtilis 155 (47.4%), Bacillus licheniformis 68 (20.8%), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens 46 (14.1%), and Bacillus pumilus 18 (5.5%). Antagonistic effect against B. cereus was detected in 20 (6.1%) of 327 isolates, which consisted of B. subtilis (12 strains), B. amyloliquefaciens (5 strains), and B. licheniformis (3 strains). The inhibitory zone for the antagonistic effect was 9.0~12.0 mm in diameter. Although a small amount of traditional Doenjang was tested in this study, these results indicated that the potential risk of B. cereus in traditional Doenjang is lower than generally presumed. It is necessary to monitor the antagonistic effect of traditional Doenjang isolates against B. cereus.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence, toxin gene profiles, and enterotoxin producing ability of Bacillus cereus isolated from environment-friendly vegetables and good agricultural practices (GAP) vegetables. A total of 49 vegetables including 40 environment-friendly vegetables and 9 GAP vegetables were tested. The Vitek 2 system was used to identify B. cereus and the PCR was used to detect 6 toxin genes, respectively. B. cereus was detected in 34 (69.3%) of 49 vegetables and the prevalence of B. cereus in GAP vegetables (44.4%) was lower than in the environment-friendly vegetables (75.0%). The detection rates of entFM, nheA, hblC, and cytK enterotoxin genes, respectively, among all isolates were 100%, 97.0%, 88.2%, and 73.5%, respectively. All of the isolates had at least one or more enterotoxin gene and 20 isolates (58.8%) had hemolysin BL enterotoxin producing ability. The risk of food poisoning from the environment-friendly vegetables and the GAP vegetables has been shown as constant. Thus, it is necessary to expand the supply of GAP vegetables showing lower B. cereus contamination than the environment-friendly vegetables. The characteristics of the environment-friendly vegetables and the GAP vegetables that must be consumed after cleaning should be disseminated to consumers regarding food poisoning prevention.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.50-56
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the microbiological contamination of water and drinking cups in springs and to estimate the toxin gene, enterotoxin production ability and antibiotic susceptibility of foodborne pathogens. Ten spring water and 34 drinking cups were tested. The average number of total aerobic bacteria and coliform bacteria in spring water were 1.8 log CFU/mL and 1.2 log CFU/mL, and in drinking cups were $4.7log\;CFU/100cm^2$ and $1.7log\;CFU/100cm^2$. Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Yersinia enterocolitica were not isolated from all of samples but Bacillus cereus was detected in 5 (14.7%) of 34 drinking cups. The nheA and entFM genes were major enterotoxin genes in B. cereus isolated from drinking cups. All of B. cereus tested in this study produce non-heamolytic enterotoxin but only 2 isolates possessed heamolysin BL enterotoxin producing ability. B. cereus was resistant to ${\beta}-lactam$ antibiotics. These results revealed that the sanitary conditions of drinking cups in spring should be improved promptly. The substitution carrying a personal drinking cup for the public drinking cups equipped in springs is suggested to prevent food-borne illness.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.334-338
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• 2009

To determine the contamination status of Sushi fish and rice, seventy-nine samples of Sushi were collected from wholesale markets and Japanese restaurants within the Seoul area and subsequently analyzed for food-borne pathogens. Total aerobic counts ranged from 4 to 6 log CFU/g for the sliced raw fish, and from 3 to 5 log CFU/g for the boiled rice. Higher levels of contamination were detected in bream and shrimp Sushi versus other types. Coliform counts of 3-4 log CFU/g were detected in the sliced raw fish, whereas levels in the boiled rice were one log CFU/g lower compared to the raw fish. The raw Sushi fish had higher amounts of contamination than the boiled rice, however, E.coli was not detected. The prevalence rates of pathogens, namely Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus, in the raw fish were 17% and 10%, respectively. Similarly, the prevalence rates in the boiled rice were 11% and 8% for S. aureus and B.cereus, respectively. Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes were also detected; however, other pathogens such as Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Clostridium perfrigens, and Yersinia enterocolitica were not detected. Among the high contaminating pathogens, B.cereus was found in 13% of samples from the wholesale markets, while S.aureus was found in 30% of samples from the Japanese restaurants. Therefore, these data suggest that the primary microbial hazard factors for Sushi are S. aureus and B. cereus, in addition to V. parahaemolyticus, and further risk assessments should focus on those pathogens.

• Korean journal of food and cookery science
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.599-604
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• 2012

In this study, the prevalence of microbiological hazard on water purifiers at lunchroom in child care center was investigated. A total of 49 water purifiers and their purified cold water were sampled to test about the total aerobic bacteria, coliform bacteria, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella spp. Total aerobic bacteria was detected over 2.0 log CFU/mL in 6 out of 49 purified cold water (12.2%), ranged from 2.0 to 2.4 log CFU/mL, and the average number of total aerobic bacteria was showed to be 3.3 log CFU/drain spout. The drain spout turned out to be a major contaminant in water purifier and needs to be improved. Coliform bacteria were also detected in 7 out of 49 cold faucets (14.3%) and 7 out of 49 drain spouts (14.3%), but not detected in purified cold water. All samples were not contaminated with the pathogens tested in this study, except for B. cereus, which was contaminated on 2 out of 49 cold faucets (4.1%) and 4 out of 49 drain spouts (8.2%). All of B. cereus isolates produced enterotoxin, such as heamolysin BL enterotoxin (HBL) or non-heamolytic enterotoxin (NHE). The HBL was detected in 5 out of 6 B. cereus isolates (83.3%), including B. cereus PCF-11 and B. cereus PDS-30 isolate only produced NHE (16.7%). These results showed that the sanitary conditions of cold faucets and drain spouts should be improved promptly.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2014

The prevalence of Bacillus cereus was determined in salad and Kimbab obtained from commercial retailers. Among the 100 salad samples analyzed, 54 samples were negative for B. cereus, whereas the bacterial count was < 10 colony forming units (CFU)/g in 8 samples, < 100 CFU/g in 25 samples, < 1,000 CFU/g in 11 samples, and > 1,000 CFU/g in 2 samples. The mean (standard deviation) was 1.18 log CFU/g (${\pm}0.71$ log CFU/g). In Kimbab, B. cereus was isolated from 20 samples; the mean bacterial count was 1.01 log CFU/g (${\pm}0.71$ log CFU/g). On the basis of the monitoring data, a statistical sampling plan was determined with the NEW sampleplan program (ICMSF), which was used as an analytical tool. To identify the most suitable sampling plan, the microbial limits (m, M) and the maximum allowable number of sample units yielding unsatisfactory test results (c) were varied, but the number of samples units, n = 5, was fixed. Sampling plans showing an acceptable probability (Pa) over 0.95 were considered suitable. Two plans (A and B) were finally suggested. Parameters for plan A are n = 5, c = 0, m = 1,000, and M = 10,000 and for plan B are n = 5, c = 2, m = 100, and M = 1,000. Interestingly, the latter plan was identical to the microbial sampling plan used in New Zealand. Thus, it was concluded that the suggested plan can be used as a sampling plan that is in line with international standards.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.594-598
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• 2006

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and frequency of food-borne pathogens in unprocessed Products such as grains, tubers, vegetables, and seaweeds. Three hundred and twenty seven samples were purchased from the retail market and the supermarket in the Kyonggi-do and Seoul areas, and washed with running tap water for 4 minutes. The total aerobic bacteria count was approximately 2 to 6 log CFU/g and the highest counts were 6 log CFU/g far lettuce and sesame leaf. The coliform count showed 1-5 log CFU/g and the highest counts were 4 log CFU/g for lettuce and carrot. Escherichia coli was detected in seven samples of white rice, sweet potato, lettuce, sesame leaf, and cabbage. Clostridium perfringens was detected in six samples of brown seaweed, laver, lettuce, and sweet potato. However, Bacillus cereus contamination was found in more than 30% of brown rice, carrot, sweet potato, lettuce and sesame leaf samples, and some of these showed contamination of more than 2.0 log CFU/g. Therefore, these results suggest that pretreatment with sanitizer to remove Bacillus cereus in such products is necessary.