Spores of four different strains of Bacillus cereus were stored on sil
icagel at 22-degrees-C and in physiological saline solution at -20-deg
rees-C for a period of 260 days. At different intervals the spores wer
e tested for survival, heat sensitivity and capacity to germinate. The
re was no clear change in any of the parameters tested, so storage on
silicagel can be a good alternative for storage as a frozen suspension
. Spores stored in this way can easily be exchanged for reference mate
rial and used for microbiological challenge testing.