A person after 6 hours of consuming rice pudding in restaurant develops vomiting. True statement regarding food poisoning is
Caused by staphylococcus aureus
Preformed toxin
Caused by vibrio parahaemolyticus
Heat labile toxin
Bacillus cereus is an impoant cause of food poisoning. Two patterns: diarrheal and emetic. Diarrheal: associated with cooked meat and vegetables. Diarrhea and abdominal pain 8-16 hours after the ingestion of contaminated food. Vomiting rarely. Bacilli are not found in the fecal specimen of these patients. Emetic: associated with consumption of cooked rice, usually fried rice from restaurants. Nausea and vomiting 1-5 hours after the meal. Bacilli are present in large numbers in cooked rice and fecal samples from these patients. such strains produce a toxin resembling staphylococcal enterotoxin, which is a preformed toxin. The emetic toxin was produced only when the Bacillus cereus is grown in rice, not in other media. Reference: Textbook of Microbiology; Anathanarayan and paniker's; 10th edition; Page no: 254
Bacteriology