IBM Research, Mars pioneer food safety initiative

IBM Research (NYSE:IBM) and Mars Incorporated have jointly established the Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain, a collaborative food safety platform that aims to obtain a better understanding of the factors surrounding food safety by leveraging advances in genomics.

Scientists from the joint project will conduct the largest-ever metagenomics study to categorise and understand microorganisms and the factors that influence their activity in a normal, safe factory environment. The results of the study will be applied to the larger context of the food supply chain to provide new insights on how microorganisms interact in a factory ecology.  New data and science-driven practices will hopefully enable better control of such microorganisms.

Scientists will start by studying the genetic fingerprints of living organisms such as bacteria, fungi, or viruses. Their research will also involve looking into how these organisms grow in different environments, including countertops, factories, and raw materials.

The data gathered from this initial study will be used for further research into how bacteria interact, which could then lead to new insights on supply chain food safety management.

The initial focus of the research will be select raw materials and factory environments. The scope will, however, be extended to cover the entire food supply chain and include applications for farmers. An understanding of soil microorganisms will definitely enable farmers to learn how to protect their plants from pathogens and ensure healthy growth and nutrient uptake.

Mars-owned production facilities will be used for gathering the first data samples. IBM’s Accelerated Discovery THINKLab, a unique collaborative research environment, will be used by the company’s genomics, healthcare, and analytics experts for the large-scale computational and data requirements of the research.

According to Mars Corporate Research and Development vice president Dave Crean, "The Consortium for Sequencing the Food Supply Chain has the potential to revolutionise food safety, providing a powerful tool to identify and address new threats on an unprecedented scale, enabling critical breakthroughs in global food safety."

Jeff Welser, vice president and lab director at IBM Research – Almaden, said that genome sequencing serves as a new kind of microscope, allowing for a deeper study of the natural environment to uncover insights 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," Mr Welser added.