Clear Labs, providers of the only automated and intelligent NGS platform purpose-built for food safety testing, announced new Listeria testing and Environmental Mapping capabilities on its Clear Safety platform. As a seamless, three-in-one solution for Listeria detection, persistence monitoring (resident/transient analysis), and visualizing contamination incidents, Clear Safety provides food companies with access to insights that were previously unattainable due to the excessive cost and time to result.

Clear Safety is a rapid detection method for Listeria testing that does not require multiple platforms or the creation of isolates, which drastically reduces the turnaround time for identifying and characterizing contamination and pinpointing its source. With next-day results, food-safety professionals can:

• Detect, (if desired) speciate, and characterize any of seven Listeria species (monocytogenes, grayi, innocua, ivanovii, marthii, seeligeri, and welshimeri) in a single analysis
• Use Clear Safety’s Similarity Analysis to discern resident from transient subtypes of Listeria in the food manufacturing environment 
• Visualize persistence and ascertain the flow of Listeria over time on a customized facility map
• Hone in on the true nature and source of contamination faster than ever before by using a seamless three-in-one solution

Importantly, Clear Safety provides an end-to-end solution. Customers are not required to maintain multiple instruments, train additional personnel, or rely on another third-party for secondary analysis to be conducted. This results in significant cost savings and operational efficiency for Listeria testing and Environmental Mapping.

“Companies no longer need to depend on disparate technology platforms,” said Clear Labs’ CEO, Sasan Amini. “By connecting Listeria screening, subtyping, persistence monitoring, and mapping software into one unified platform, Clear Safety reduces the time from sample to answer and dramatically curtails operational inefficiencies related to contamination incidents.” 

Clear Safety uses sequencing data for its subtyping and persistence monitoring. Without the need to generate any Whole Genome Sequence (WGS) information, the platform catalogs the genetic “fingerprint” of each Listeria sample encountered and compares it to the fingerprints of Listeria previously encountered within a company. If the Quality Assurance team chooses to perform a Similarity Analysis, samples containing Listeria with matching DNA fingerprints are grouped accordingly and tagged with metadata including location, date, and time. 

Clear Safety’s Environmental Mapping then overlays Listeria contamination on a facility map. This allows the QA team to track the flow of particular subtypes of Listeria through a facility over time. With this information, food manufacturers can make faster, more informed food safety and operational decisions that result in time and money saved.

“With Clear Safety, QA managers can visualize their results on any number of maps they have created and filter for key data they are interested in,” said Ramin Khaksar, VP of R&D at Clear Labs. “For the first time, QA managers can truly understand the dynamics of Listeria contamination in their food-manufacturing environment.” 

The Clear Safety platform is the first automated end-to-end NGS-based food safety platform for routine pathogen testing. Leveraging the latest technology in molecular testing, proprietary bioinformatics software, and robotics, Clear Safety helps food safety professionals reduce risk with highly accurate pathogen testing, identify serotypes faster than ever, and react quickly to pathogen outbreaks. 

In addition to Clear Safety, Clear Labs’ platform supports testing for authenticity, GMO, and microbiome testing. The platform’s unprecedented level of automation and robotics reduces both labor and errors, and Clear Labs’ AI and machine learning provide trends, environmental monitoring, and predictive risk assessments. 

Clear Labs has several dozen customers globally, including many of the leading food brands and service labs around the world. 

To learn more about Clear Safety, please visit: http://www.clearlabs.com/.