Protecting food production from pathogen risk in 2025

Norovirus alone costs the UK food industry an estimated £100 million per year in lost production, recalls and workforce absence. For food manufacturers and processors, the risk is not abstract — a single contamination event can shut down a production line, trigger a regulatory investigation and cause lasting reputational damage.

The challenge is that traditional infection control approaches are largely reactive. By the time symptoms appear in a worker, the pathogen may already have been present in the environment for days. Testing sick individuals provides important clinical information, but it does not give production managers the early warning they need to intervene before a situation escalates.

Environmental monitoring: a proven approach

Environmental monitoring is already well established in the food industry for bacterial pathogens like Listeria and Salmonella. The same principle can now be applied to viral pathogens through wastewater surveillance.

Wastewater from food production facilities carries a signature of everything that is circulating in the workforce — respiratory viruses, gastrointestinal pathogens, and more. By monitoring that wastewater, BioSeer can detect viral signals before they manifest in clinical illness, giving production managers days of advance notice.

Regulatory and audit value

Beyond the immediate operational benefits, wastewater surveillance is increasingly recognised as a valuable addition to the environmental monitoring programmes that underpin BRC and SQF certification. Demonstrating proactive, science-based surveillance of viral pathogen risk is a compelling assurance narrative for auditors and retail buyers alike.

Getting started

BioSeer's food production monitoring programme is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing facility operations. Our sampling hardware is non-invasive and requires no modification to drainage or processing infrastructure. Most sites can be operational within two weeks of contract signature.