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What is Bacillus cereus?

Bacillus cereus is a pathogen that produces toxins. Two types of illnesses can occur, one causes diarrhea, the other causes nausea and vomiting.

The diarrheal type can occur within 6-15 hours with watery diarrhea and cramps. The vomiting, or emetic, type can occur within 30 minutes to 6 hours. The illness is typically gone in 24 hours.

Drink lots of fluids and get rest. If symptoms worsen, see a doctor.

The best defense is controlling temperature of foods as B. cereus can multiply quickly at room temperature.

Source: https://bit.ly/2qrr8yj

Common foods linked to B. cereus include cooked rice, cereal dishes, sauces, soups, meat pies, and unpasteurized milk.

 

About Karen Blakeslee

The Rapid Response Center was formed in 1995 as a resource for Kansas State University Research & Extension Agents. Resource topics included Food Science, Human Nutrition, Food Service, Textiles, Home Care and other consumer topics. Since that time, the Center has grown to be of valuable assistance to Kansas State University Extension Specialists in those areas.

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