PolyCheck. Using advanced data science to design a better protocol to detect and monitor listeria in the food preparation industry

李斯特菌是英国最致命的食源性疾病。它通常在食物被收获、加工、准备、包装、运输或储存在被单核细胞增多症李斯特菌污染的环境中时传播。这些环境可能会受到原材料、水、土壤和进入的空气的污染。在过去的几十年里，对从事食品制备和加工的公司有效地检测和监测李斯特菌一直被证明是难以捉摸和困难的。FoodScan(PolyChord在食品安全方面的第一个项目)已经被证明比其他标准方法能够更好地监测肠球菌和沙门氏菌的生长/死亡。我们将利用我们在FoodScan项目中所学到的知识，应用类似的方法来改善对单核细胞增多性李斯特菌的监测。在这一新方法中，PolyChord将与一家领先的食品制备公司和世界知名生物学家Seamus Fning教授密切合作，开发一种数据驱动的方法，用于检测和监控进入英国食品加工厂的农产品中的单核细胞增多性李斯特菌。结果将被称为PolyCheck，这是一种使用数据科学来识别进口食品中李斯特菌的新方法，也是朝着建立更好的协议来解决食品制备行业中的李斯特菌迈出的重要一步。我们利用我们在FoodScan项目中所学到的知识，应用我们先进的数据科学PolyChord，结合精确食品科学的尖端技术，开发出一种数据驱动的方法来检测和监测李斯特菌。我们将与一家领先的食品制备公司和谢默斯·范宁教授密切合作，将环境数据与基因组测序相结合。结果将被称为PolyCheck，这是朝着在食品制备行业建立更好的解决李斯特菌方案迈出的实际一步。

Listeria is the deadliest food-borne disease in the UK. It is generally transmitted when food is harvested, processed, prepared, packed, transported or stored in environments contaminated with _L. monocytogenes_. These environments can be contaminated by raw materials, water, soil, and incoming air. Detecting and monitoring listeria effectively for companies engaged in food preparation and processing has proved elusive and difficult in the past decades.FoodScan (PolyChord's first project in food safety) has already proved capable of better monitoring the growth/death of enterococcus and salmonella than other standard methods. We will use what we have learnt in the FoodScan project to apply similar methodology to improving the monitoring of listeria monocytogenes. In this new approach, PolyChord will be closely collaborating with a leading food preparation company and Prof. Seamus Fanning - a world-renowned biologist - to develop a data driven approach for detecting and monitoring listeria monocytogenes in produce entering food processing factories in the UK. The outcoming result will be called PolyCheck, a new way of using data science to identify listeria in incoming foods and a major step towards establishing a better protocol for addressing Listeria in the food preparation industry.We use what we have learnt in the FoodScan project, applying our advanced data science, PolyChord, combined with cutting-edge of precision food science to develop a data driven approach to detecting and monitoring listeria. We will be working closely with a leading food preparation company and Prof. Seamus Fanning to combine environmental data with genomic sequencing. The outcoming result will be called PolyCheck, which is a practical step towards establishing a better protocol for addressing Listeria in the food preparation industry.