Serological detection of enterotoxin in foods implicated in staphylococcal food poisoning

Two methods are described for the extraction of enterotoxin from foods incriminated in incidents of staphylococcal food poisoning. Enterotoxin was detected serologically in 12 of 24 food samples from 20 separate incidents: eight samples contained enterotoxin A, three contained D and one both A and B. The amount of enterotoxin in nine foods, based on 100% recovery, varied from 0.02 to 0.09 mug./g.Data are also given on the numbers of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from samples of food from 39 food poisoning incidents. Colony counts varied between 7.5 x 10(5) and 9 x 10(9)/g. with a median value of 7 x 10(7)/g.