Google data can detect sources of outbreaks of foodborne illness – Quartz

If you have had the misfortune of being intoxicated by food, you will not forget it soon. The good news is that epidemiologists, Scientists studying diseases are currently working to find more quickly sources of foodborne illness. The key can be the history of your Google searches.

In a study published Oct. 6 in the journal NPJ Digital Medicine, Google researchers working with public health experts developed a model identifying potentially dangerous restaurants. The model, called Foodborne IItNOTess OFtector in RThe acronym FINDER is certainly a tortured acronym, but it worked remarkably well: when it was deployed in Chicago and Las Vegas, FINDER was 3.1 times more likely to find unsafe restaurants than current methods. sanitary inspection. study.

FINDER uses a combination of Google searches and location information from all users who have enabled location services on their device. The model first found data from people who used search terms such as "diarrhea" or other symptoms that could indicate food poisoning, and then looked at the history of their location to determine where they were. recently. FINDER then reported suspected locations and Health Department officials went to their homes to conduct inspections.

Of course, the model was not perfect, but it worked quite well. The researchers found that 52% of restaurants identified by FINDER were actually considered unsafe during the inspection. In comparison, FINDER was more likely to find problematic restaurants than routine inspections: about 25% of restaurants subject to routine inspections are considered unsafe.

FINDER also appears to be more effective than customer complaints, which proved to be accurate only 39% of the time. This is because people tend to think that the last place they ate is what caused them food poisoning, the authors wrote. It turned out that this was the case only in 61% of the cases of the study.

The researchers said in their report that they hoped that public health departments would use FINDER to more quickly identify foodborne disease threats in their communities. The next time you suffer from a serious case of food poisoning and you examine your symptoms, you may be able to find comfort in the possibility that the data on your phone will lead directly to your public health department. to the culprit.