ABSTRACT
I. BACKGROUND The association of Staphylococcus with foodborne illness dates back as early as 1884, when spherical organisms in cheese caused a large food-poisoning outbreak in the United States. Other earlier outbreaks now attributed to the consumption of staphylococcal-contaminated foods occurred in France in 1894, Michigan in 1907, and the Philippines in 1914. In 1930 Dr. Gail Dack and his colleagues at the University of Chicago were able to demonstrate that the cause of food poisoning resulting from the consumption of contaminated sponge cake with cream filling was a toxin produced by isolated staphylococci (1).
