Bacillus thermoamylovorans - A new threat to the dairy industry - A review

Bacillus thermoamylovorans is a newly described spore forming bacterium emerging in the dairy industry. There is an increasing threat of B. thermoamylovorans contamination, not only in food ingredients and raw milk, but also in sterilised milk and dairy products. Animal feed, processing equipment, and farm environments are potential entry points for contamination of milk with B. thermoamylovorans. The ability of B. thermoamylovorans to produce lipolytic and β-galactosidase enzymes is linked to food spoilage. B. thermoamylovorans spores have a heat resistance comparable with that of the spores of Bacillus sporothermodurans, indicating the potential to survive ultra-high temperature treatments. However, despite the rise in reports of the isolation of B. thermoamylovorans from dairy samples, there have been few reports on the characterisation of these bacteria. The origin, characteristics and potential issues resulting from B. thermoamylovorans in the dairy industry and potential methods of control are discussed in this review.