Abstract: In order to find a fast and accurate method for the determination of Bacillus cereus in cigar tobacco leaves, the performances of COMPASS chromogenic medium method (COMPASS method) and the ISO 7932 method were compared. The results showed that: 1) The standard strain and quantitative quality control strain were used to verify the performances of COMPASS chromogenic medium and mannitol yolk polymyxin agar (MYP)medium used in the ISO 7932 method. The COMPASS chromogenic medium was more specific and selective than MYP medium, while their sensitivities were similar. 2) The difference between the detection results of the two methods on artificially contaminated samples and natural samples was not significant (P>0.05), but the COMPASS method was simpler in use, needed less time and offered a higher accuracy. 3) The detection rate of Bacillus cereus in 24 cigar tobacco leaf samples was 83.3% with the level less than 10⁵ CFU/g. Therefore, the COMPASS method was considered superior to the ISO 7932 method, as it could effectively reduce the interference of non-target Bacillus spp. in actual samples. In conclusion, the COMPASS method is suitable for the rapid detection of Bacillus cereus in cigar tobacco leaves.