Differentiation of dairy strains of the Bacillus cereus group by phage typing, minimum growth temperature, and fatty acid analysis.

A total of 130 Bacillus strains were isolated from dairy products, the dairy environment and from packaging boards and board-producing machines. Ninety-eight of these were members of the B. cereus group (B. cereus, B. mycoides and B. thuringiensis) as determined by whole cell fatty acid composition. Fatty acid composition did not differentiate between the three species. Of the 98 strains, which were indistinguishable by biochemical tests, 87 could be assigned into 21 different phage types (11 strains remained untypable) when tested with 12 B. cereus, B. mycoides and B. thuringiensis phages. The distribution of phage types between strains from different sources showed that the source of contamination of the dairy products was of milk origin and not from the packaging materials. Most strains isolated from the dairy products were able to grow below 10 degrees C, whereas strains from the dairy environment and from board mills had higher minimum growth temperatures.