Bacillus cereus in personal care products: risk to consumers

Abstract

SynopsisBacillus cereus is ubiquitous in nature and thus occurs naturally in a wide range of raw materials and foodstuffs. B. cereus spores are resistant to desiccation and heat and able to survive dry storage and cooking. Vegetative cells produce several toxins which on ingestion in sufficient numbers can cause vomiting and/or diarrhoea depending on the toxins produced. Gastrointestinal disease is commonly associated with reheated or inadequately cooked foods. In addition to being a rare cause of several acute infections (e.g. pneumonia and septicaemia), B. cereus can also cause localized infection of post-surgical or trauma wounds and is a rare but significant pathogen of the eye where it may result in severe endophthalmitis often leading to loss of vision. Key risk factors in such cases are trauma to the eye and retained contaminated intraocular foreign bodies. In addition, rare cases of B. cereus-associated keratitis (inflammation of the cornea) have been linked to contact lens use. Bacillus cereus is therefore a microbial contaminant that could adversely affect product safety of cosmetic and facial toiletries and pose a threat to the user if other key risk factors are also present. The infective dose in the human eye is unknown, but as few as 100 cfu has been reported to initiate infection in a susceptible animal model. However, we are not aware of any reports in the literature of B. cereus infections in any body site linked with use of personal care products. Low levels of B. cereus spores may on occasion be present in near-eye cosmetics, and these products have been used by consumers for many years. In addition, exposure to B. cereus is more likely to occur through other routes (e.g. dustborne contamination) due to its ubiquity and resistance properties of spores. The organism has been recovered from the eyes of healthy individuals. Therefore, although there may be a perceived hazard, the risk of severe eye infections as a consequence of exposure through contaminated near-eye cosmetics is judged to be vanishingly small. It is unlikely that more stringent microbiological standards for near-eye cosmetics will have any impact on the risk of severe eye infections caused by B. cereus, as these are not linked to use of personal care products.R esum e Bacillus cereus est une bact erie largement r epandue dans la nature et est pr esente naturellement dans une grande vari et e de mati eres premi eres et de produits alimentaires. Les spores de B. cereus sont r esistantes aux op erations de d eshydratation et de chauffage et sont capables de survivre au stockage a sec et a la cuisson. Les cellules v eg etatives produisent plusieurs toxines qui peuvent provoquer des vomissements et/ou des diarrh ees (selon la nature des toxines produites) lorsque elles sont ing er ees en quantit e suffisante. Les maladies gastro-intestinales sont couramment associ ees avec des aliments r echauff es ou cuits de mani ere inad equate. En plus d'être une cause rare de plusieurs infections aigu€ es (comme la pneumonie ou la septic emie), ...

Peroxy Pyruvic Acid-Containing Topical Anti-Infective: A Potential Candidate for a Wound Instillation Solution

“…In addition, prior in-vitro studies indicate that the PPA-containing topical anti-infective might break down the existing biofilm and prevent the regrowth of biofilm at relatively low concentrations. 35,36,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][50][51][52] These ex-vivo findings reinforce the results of in-vitro and in-vivo animal studies that demonstrate the ability of a PPAcontaining topical anti-infective to remove exudate, possibly prevent wound biofilm, and, therefore, prophylactically enhance wound healing.…”

“…39 B. cereus is generally resistant to penicillin, ampicillin, and cephalorsporins. 40 In this study, the patient with B. cereus infection received prior antibiotic treatment with cefazolin.…”

“…The hydrogen peroxide and peracid work synergistically to destroy the cell wall and then penetrate to the microbial internal structures, where carboxylic acids and low-level hydrogen peroxide are involved in signaling to the immune response during and after inflammation and angiogenesis. 35,36,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46][50][51][52] The resulting mode of action is not metabolic inhibition, but rather a nonspecific nuclear attack on the bacteria. Therefore, microbial evolution to resistance to this PPA-containing topical anti-infective is unexpected.…”

Microbiological risk assessment for personal care products

“…Although these standards are intended for non-sterile drugs, they are considered to be relevant to cosmetics manufacturers [3,19]. The criteria given in USP Chapter <1111> [22] are dependent on the route of administration, for example oromucosal use or cutaneous use.…”

“…In recent years, however, the safety record for personal care products has been excellent and infections resulting from contaminated products are rare, with many of the reported cases occurring in hospitalized individuals [3]. However, product recalls do occur, the details of which are published in many countries.…”