Count of 40 cfu/g for Bacillus cereus on a raw ingredient, is this ok?

Hi all, finding this website really useful!  Thought I would just throw this one out there as I have looked but have not found confirmation that I am fully satisfied with.  A count of 40 cfu/g for Bacillus cereus on a raw ingredient, is this still ok?  I have checked but everything I have looked at is for finished product and it is within spec for that.  My hesitation is that it is a raw ingredient that will be used in a product that is not really going to be going through any major heat treatment.

All advice appreciated!! :)

Hi all, finding this website really useful!  Thought I would just throw this one out there as I have looked but have not found confirmation that I am fully satisfied with.  A count of 40 cfu/g for Bacillus cereus on a raw ingredient, is this still ok?  I have checked but everything I have looked at is for finished product and it is within spec for that.  My hesitation is that it is a raw ingredient that will be used in a product that is not really going to be going through any major heat treatment.

 

All advice appreciated!! :)

Dear waferthin,

Raw ingredient = ? (it can be relevant), and to be used for ?

Rgds / Charles.C

Apologies for the lack of detail, it is albumen to be used in confectionary product.

Thanks!

Hi all, finding this website really useful!  Thought I would just throw this one out there as I have looked but have not found confirmation that I am fully satisfied with.  A count of 40 cfu/g for Bacillus cereus on a raw ingredient, is this still ok?  I have checked but everything I have looked at is for finished product and it is within spec for that.  My hesitation is that it is a raw ingredient that will be used in a product that is not really going to be going through any major heat treatment.

 

All advice appreciated!! :)

The presence of large numbers of B. cereus (greater than 10^6 organisms/g) in a food is indicative of active growth and proliferation of the organism and is consistent with a potential hazard to health.

So your count of 40/g is not high, you need to consider how the ingredient will be used by your customers, the potential for growth and agree an acceptable specification.

I assume that you prescribe storage conditions/shelf life and already determine the extent of growth during this time.

Regards,

Tony

Dear Waferthin,

No direct experience with albumen however I did a little googling.

Most micro. specs for albumen seem to not include B.cereus. Could only find one –

specification - EGG_ALBUMEN_POWDER.pdf   151.9KB   14 downloads

As per above, yr result is on the borderline however this spec. seems pretty tight to me compared to most RTE product data I could see (the quoted S.aureus limit is a bit odd also).

I presume this product is heat treated. I noted that B.cereus normally survives the pasteurization process used for egg products.

I  guess the situation  somewhat depends on yr finished product spec and the related process as per Tony.

The HPA (ca. 2009) regard  10^3-10^5 as borderline (previously PHLS [2000] considered  >10^4/g as unsatisfactory) in the various RTE products covered.

Is yr final product spec. < 100/g or ?? Do you only have one datum (micro. measurements usually have large confidence intervals).

Rgds / Charles.C

Hi,

Thank you both for your help.  The product is not currently being manufactured as it is a seasonal product.  It is mallow eggs which do go through

some heat treatment during the process and only have a 3 month shelf-life.  As we are not using it at present I will have it tested again just prior to its use to ensure its safety.  We normally do not have an issue with albumen which is why the result through us a bit.

Thanks again!