Cereulide

Cereulide is a toxin that is produced by specific Bacillus cereus strains. It is very heat stable and not inactivated by heating. When it is produced in food and the product is ingested, it can cause food borne intoxication and vomiting, even when B. cereus is not viable any more. To evaluate the risk of survival, growth and toxin production during manufacturing and in finished products throughout shelf life we apply predictive models or we can assess this experimentally. We use PCR based methods to assess the potential of B. cereus strains to produce cereulide and other toxins. And we apply analytics methods to detect and quantify cereulide in foods.