Four hundred samples of milk and milk products were obtained over a 5-month period from different retail outlets in Madison, Wisconsin, and were examined for presence and number of Bacillus cereus. B. cereus was isolated from 9,35, 14 and 48% of raw milk, pasteurized milk, Cheddar cheese and ice cream samples, respectively. No. B. cereus was recovered from yogurt. The level of contamination with B. cereus did not exceed 100/ml in raw milk, 1000/ml in pasteurized milk, 200/g in Cheddar cheese and 3800/g in ice cream.