If reactions are not clear, incubate plates for additional 24 h before counting colonies. Select plates that contain an estimated 15-150 pink-orange (Bacara) or pink (MYP), lecithinase-producing colonies. Mark bottom of plates into zones with black felt pen to facilitate counting and count colonies that are typical of B. cereus. This is the presumptive plate count of B. cereus. Pick at least 5 presumptive positive colonies from the Bacara or MYP plates and transfer one colony to BHI with 0.1% glucose for enterotoxin studies (Chapter 15) and a nutrient agar slant for storage. Typical colonies grown on Bacara or MYP must be confirmed with biochemical testing as described in Sections F and H below.
Calculate number of B. cereus cells/g of sample, based on percentage of colonies that are morphologically consistent with B. cereus. For example, if average count obtained with 10-4 dilution of sample was 65 and 4 of 5 colonies tested were confirmed as B. cereus, the number of B. cereus cells/g of food is 65 × 4/5 × 10,000 × 10 = 5,200,000. (NOTE: Dilution factor is tenfold higher than sample dilution because only 0.1 mL was tested).