IBM Research and Mars collaborate for food safety study

IBM Research has collaborated with Mars to establish a food safety platform, Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain, to carry out studies in genomics to enhance food safety.  

This consortium will perform metagenomics studies to categorise and understand micro-organisms and the factors that influence their activity in a normal, safe factory environment.

At the primary level, scientists will look into the genetic fingerprints of living organisms such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses and also analyse how they grow in different environments, including countertops, factories, and raw materials.

Using this data, they will investigate how bacteria interact, which is expected to give completely new ways to view supply chain food safety management.

IBM Research – Almaden vice-president and Lab Director Jeff Welser said: "Genome sequencing serves as a new kind of microscope, one that uses data to peer deeply into our natural environment to uncover insights that were previously unknowable.

"By mining insights from genomic data, we’re seeking to understand how to identify, interpret and ultimately create healthy and protective microbial management systems within the food supply chain."

The research will initially focus on select raw materials and factory environments and later extend to food supply chain as well as include applications for farmers.

The first data samples will be collected from Mars-owned production facilities, and IBM’s genomics, healthcare and analytics experts will utilise IBM’s Accelerated Discovery THINKLab for the large-scale computational and data requirements.

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Image: New Consortium to undertake the largest-ever metagenomics study and unlock food safety insights across the supply chain. Photo: © 2014 Mars.