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My last breads suffer from B.Subtilis ssp. mesentericus infection - the bread became sticky in hours and apparently ill.

I exchanged the flour, performed cleaning and cleansing but still the disease came back.

My subjective feeling is that the dough became sticky already in the proofing stage.

My question is can Bacillus Mesentericus develop in the proofing stage and can I diagnose it by some means?

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  • How/what did you clean???
    – Fabby
    Aug 1, 2015 at 15:06
  • @Fabby I threw away all the disposable utensils and washed the whole kitchen with vinegar and detergents. I am aware that these means are insufficient, but I had not other options.
    – Ilan
    Aug 1, 2015 at 15:14
  • I clean my entire kitchen once every 2 weeks with vinegar and once every 2 weeks with alcohol. (so it gets cleaned once/week: I just alternate between the two). Once/year I use bleach on everything just before leaving on holiday... :/
    – Fabby
    Aug 1, 2015 at 17:28

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My last breads suffer from B.Subtilis ssp. mesentericus infection - the bread became sticky in hours and apparently ill.

Bacillus mesentericus is a spore forming bacteria, known for causing rope/ropey like bread. It's a soil/grass based bacteria so may have been in the flour.

I threw away all the disposable utensils and washed the whole kitchen with vinegar and detergents. I am aware that these means are insufficient, but I had not other options

You may have been a bit hasty, the information in the link below suggests cleaning everything with vinegar for 3 consecutive days.

More information here including on diagnosis & treatment (under 3.5.3)

If you would like to know more, you can have a search there's a wealth of information especially academic articles.

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