In times of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, securing food production systems is an eminent task and makes people clearly aware of the vulnerability of the existing systems. One aspect of security of supply is maintaining an adequate level of food safety.

The pathogenic bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which causes listeriosis, a rare disease, is of particularly high economic and social relevance. Current detection methods are not able to detect L. monocytogenes on the day the sample is taken. This can hardly be avoided, especially in the case of perishable foods, a potential spread of endangered products and can lead to costly product recalls or disease outbreaks.

In a cooperation between iMD Biotech, the Austrian Competence Center for Feed and Food Quality Safety and Innovation (FFoQSI) and the Institute for Food Safety (LMM) of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, a novel application of biosensors for faster detection of L. monocytogenes is being developed.