Abstract
Several Bacillus cereus strains possess the genetic fittings to produce two different types of toxins, the heat-stable cereulide or different heat-labile proteins with enterotoxigenic potential. Unlike the diarrheal toxins, cereulide is (pre-)formed in food and can cause foodborne intoxications shortly after ingestion of contaminated food. Based on the widely self-limiting character of cereulide intoxications and rarely performed differential diagnostic in routine laboratories, the real incidence is largely unknown. Therefore, during a 7-year period about 4.300 food samples linked to foodborne illness with a preliminary report of vomiting as well as food analysed in the context of monitoring programs were investigated to determine the prevalence of emetic B. cereus in food environments. In addition, a lux-based real-time monitoring system was employed to assess the significance of the detection of emetic strains in different food matrices and to determine the actual risk of cereulide toxin production in different types of food. This comprehensive study showed that emetic strains are much more volatile than previously thought. Our survey highlights the importance and need of novel strategies to move from the currently taxonomic-driven diagnostic to more risk orientated diagnostics to improve food and consumer safety.
Highlights
Cereulide, an emesis-inducing toxin produced by a fairly homogenous group of B. cereus strains called “emetic B. cereus,” is a small heat-stable cyclic peptide [1]
This study was designed to get a comprehensive overview of the prevalence of emetic B. cereus strains in both food samples from supposed foodborne intoxications and food samples from general food monitoring programs
These data should provide a profound basis for a better risk assessment concerning the emetic syndrome caused by cereulide producing emetic B. cereus strains
Summary
An emesis-inducing toxin produced by a fairly homogenous group of B. cereus strains called “emetic B. cereus,” is a small heat-stable cyclic peptide [1]. The emetic poisoning caused by cereulide is usually characterized by vomiting starting after 0.5 hour to six hours after consumption of the contaminated food. Intoxications proceed mostly with mild symptoms and last normally not more than one day, but severe cases requiring hospitalization are increasingly reported (for review see Ehling-Schulz et al, 2004 [2], and Ehling-Schulz et al, 2011 [3]). In the year 2011 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reported an increase of 122.2% in the number of foodborne intoxications and toxicoinfections caused by B. cereus in Europe. Even if intoxication with the emetic toxin cereulide in most cases produces only mild symptoms, consistently fatal cases are reported [6,7,8]
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