Exposure assessment for Bacillus cereus in ready-to-eat Kimbab selling at stores

Kimbab, which is rolled cooked-rice and other foodstuffs in dried laver, is a representative ready-to-eat (RTE) food in Korea. Bacillus cereus is a significant hazard associated with Kimbab. However, the knowledge of the dose–response relationship for B. cereus is limited, now it is not possible to conduct a full microbial risk assessment. Therefore, our study may be focused on the exposure assessment from retail store to the point of consumption in a Kimbab contaminated with B. cereus. The survey data for preparing and selling of Kimbab, predictive growth model, and consumer eating patterns were combined with probabilistic modeling to simulate the level of B. cereus in store Kimbab at the time of consumption. The estimated contamination levels ranged from as minimum (5% percentile) −3.63 log cfu/g, median (50% percentile) 1.39 log cfu/g, mean 1.57 log cfu/g, and a maximum (95% percentile) 7.31 log cfu/g. However, there is always a paucity of data to conduct such full exposure assessments with associated variability and uncertainty, coupled with a validation step. Therefore, we suggest that additional studies to allow for a more realistic and accuracy exposure assessment in the future, based on data gaps we identify.