Every year, 600 million people fall ill from contaminated food, and 420,000 die—but current tests take days, leaving outbreaks to spread while results sit in a lab. Amped PCR Ltd, a biotech startup based in Aberystwyth, is building PurifAI, a mobile diagnostic system that detects pathogens like *Salmonella* and *Listeria* directly at food production sites using qPCR and genetic sequencing. The missing piece is a way to manage and act on that data in real time. This project builds a cloud-based dashboard—using Google Cloud Platform and Looker—that pulls together pathogen detection, environmental monitoring, lab metrics, and geospatial tracking of contamination risks into a single interface. Predictive analytics will flag emerging threats before they become outbreaks. If it works, food producers and public health bodies will shift from reacting to contamination after it hits consumers to intercepting it in the supply chain. That means fewer recalls, less waste, and quieter operation of a system most people never think about—until it fails. The dashboard turns a fast diagnostic tool into a decision-making system, supporting tighter regulations and scalable adoption across food production, public health, and environmental monitoring.
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Foodborne illnesses affect 600 million people globally each year, causing 420,000 deaths and significant economic losses across the food supply chain. Contamination incidents cost the global food industry billions annually, with product recalls, legal penalties, and reputational damage. Traditional diagnostic methods, such as culture-based testing, are slow, requiring days to deliver results, and often fail to provide actionable insights in time to prevent outbreaks. This delay hampers swift responses, leading to widespread public health risks and costly disruptions. As regulatory standards tighten and consumer demand for safe food grows, the need for rapid, reliable, and scalable diagnostics has never been greater. To combat these significant industry challenges, Amped PCR Ltd, an Aberystwyth based biotech startup is developing PurifAI - a mobile, modular diagnostic system combining qPCR and NGS technologies to enable in-house, rapid, accurate pathogen detection and genomic insights directly at critical points in the food supply chain. By identifying pathogens such as _Salmonella_, _Listeria monocytogenes_, and _Bacillus Cereus_, and providing actionable data, PurifAI reduces the time and cost associated with traditional methods. However, the absence of an integrated, real-time data management and visualisation system limits PurifAI's potential. Stakeholders, including food producers and public health bodies, require centralised access to diagnostics data, environmental metrics, and predictive insights to enable informed decision-making and enhance food safety practices. To address this need, Amped (with support from subcontractor, Infopoly Ltd), is developing a comprehensive data dashboard to enable seamless data flow, improve diagnostics transparency, and provide stakeholders with predictive tools to mitigate risks efficiently. The dashboard will include modules for pathogen detection, environmental monitoring, lab operational metrics, and geospatial tracking of contamination risks, consolidated within a single, user-friendly interface. Built using Google Cloud Platform and Looker visualisation tools, the dashboard will provide real-time insights into pathogen detection, environmental monitoring, and geospatial trends. The integration of predictive analytics and public health data further strengthens the system's capacity for proactive food safety management. The data dashboard will amplify the value of the PurifAI system by ensuring stakeholders can make timely, data-driven decisions. Enhanced data integration will support compliance with stringent food safety regulations, while predictive analytics will mitigate outbreaks and contamination risks. Furthermore, the system will facilitate improved supply chain transparency and scalability, enabling widespread adoption across food production, public health, and environmental sectors. This transformative project will position Amped as a leader in precision diagnostics, advancing both global food safety and operational efficiency.
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