Food Inspectors

can thwart epidemics using supermarket scanners.

From Salmonella to norovirus, foodborne illnesses afflict almost 1 in 10 people every year. The only way to prevent more from getting sick is to trace the problem back to the source of the contaminated food, which normally can take months. With IBM Research, public health officials can now use the data from simple supermarket scanners to analyze grocery receipts connected with as few as 10 reported cases of illness to find tainted sources within 12 hours or less.