Bacillus cereus is a spore-forming bacterium that occurs naturally in many kinds of foods and can cause illness in humans. It can form spores that are resistant to heating and dehydration and can therefore survive cooking and dry storage.

Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis are intracellular protozoan parasites that may produce gastrointestinal symptoms when ingested by humans. Up until 2002, C. parvum was named C. parvum genotype 2 (cattle genotype) and C. hominis was named C. parvum genotype 1 (the human genotype). They are now recognised as different species based on genetic distinctions.

The species is divided into serotypes on the basis of the O antigen. Cholera is typically associated with O1, but serotype O139 has also been the cause of many cases of cholera in Asia.

This is one of two species of the “tubercle bacilli” (the other is M. tuberculosis) that are able to cause tuberculosis. Unlike M. tuberculosis, M. bovis infects cattle and other animals, and so the disease can be spread to humans via contaminated milk and
meat.

Enterobacter sakazakii was recently reclassified into eight distinct taxa of a new genus Cronobacter (Iversen et al., 2008). All have been linked retrospectively to clinical cases in adults and infants (FAO/WHO, 2008). To avoid confusion the organism will be referred to here as Cronobacter spp.

Arcobacter is a member of the Epsilobacteria group, which also includes Campylobacter and Helicobacter spp. It is distinguished from Campylobacter by being able to grow in the presence of oxygen (aerotolerant) and at 15ºC.

Aeromonas are Gram negative bacteria common in water and soil. The role of some Aeromonas species in rare but serious conditions including wound infections, necrosis, septicaemia and meningitis is well accepted. The role of Aeromonas in food and waterborne gastroenteritis remains hotly debated (Janda and Abbott, 2010).

Salmonella subtypes from human and animal specimens used to estimate the importance of animal reservoirs as origins for bacteria.

Enteric viruses other than hepatitis A virus and Norwalklike viruses have occasionally been implicated in foodborne disease. These include: Rotaviruses, astroviruses, hepatitis E virus, picornaviruses, adenoviruses and parvoviruses.

Food safety guidelines to inactivate the hepatitis A virus in berries. MPI and FSANZ recommend cooking food to 85°C for 1 minute to inactivate hepatitis A virus but recognise that the extent of virus inactivation is influenced by the food matrix.