Bacillus cereus is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, motile, aerobic rod that also grows well anaerobically. B. cereus causes two different types of food poisoning: the diarrhoeal type and the emetic type. The diarrhoeal type of food poisoning is caused by complex enterotoxins , produced during vegetative growth of B. cereus in the small intestine , while the emetic toxin is produced by growing cells in the food . For both types of food poisoning the food involved has usually been heat-treated, and surviving spores are the source of the food poisoning. B. cereus is not a competitive microorganism, but grows well after cooking and cooling (<48°C). The heat treatment will cause spore germination, and in the absence of competing flora, B. cereus grows well. B. cereus is a common soil saprophyte and is easily spread to many types of foods, especially of plant origin, but is also frequently isolated from meat, eggs and dairy products . The development of psychrotrophic strains in the dairy industry has led to increasing surveillance of B. cereus in recent years . B. cereus food poisoning is underreported as both types of illness are relatively mild and usually last for less than 24 h . However, occasional reports have described a more severe form of the diarrhoeal type of B. cereus food poisoning