## 1 Introduction  
Foodborne pathogens are an emerging global public health problem [1]. Even with increased awareness in food safety and quality control, there are still about 48 million cases of foodborne diseases in the United States every year [2, 3]. _Salmonella_, _Escherichia coli O157:H7_, _Staphylococcus aureus_, _Listeria monocytogenes_, and _Bacillus cereus_ are the most common foodborne pathogens [4, 5]. Of these, _Listeria monocytogenes_ (_L. monocytogenes_) is more likely to cause death and is associated with Listeriosis. Aside from its high fatality rate (20-30%), Listeriosis can cause many diseases such as sepsis and meningitis. It readily infects immunocompromised people and in particular neonates, pregnant women, and people over age 65 [6, 7]. Meats, fruits, vegetables, seafood, milk, and dairy products are common foods associated with _Listeria monocytogenes_[8, 9]. Culture and colony counting are most often used for bacterial identification, but these are time-consuming and laborious processes and require several steps (sample pre-enrichment, selective enrichment, and confirmation) [10, 11]. To shorten the analysis time, various rapid detection methodshave been presented, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) [12], polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [13], and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) [14]. These strategies offer good specificity and sensitivity but require expensive instruments, multiple steps, and well-trained technicians. For example, the high cost of antibodies and the multiple steps involved in manual applications limit immunoassay methods [15]. In some PCR-based assays, DNA extraction and false-positive results can lead to cross-contamination of samples. This is a major drawback of PCR [11]. Hence, a fast, real-time, and effective detection method is urgently needed for _L. monocytogenes_ in food. Molecular imprinting technology (MIT) is an attractive strategy for designing a matrix using customized materials with high selectivity for template molecules or which are related to analogous compounds. Through continuing development of this technology, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have wide potential application in the fields of biosensors [16], separation [17], drug delivery [18], and catalysis [19]. To date, the synthesis of MIPs of small organic molecules has been straightforward, but MIT for larger templates such as biomacromolecules (e.g., proteins) and bacteria remains highly challenging [20]. [PERSON] et al. prepared MIPs via an inverse-phase suspension and bulk polymerization to detect _Staphylococcus aureus_ using _S. aureus_ protein A (SpA) as a template protein. However, because of the fragility and complexity of bacteria, it is difficult to generate cavities of a specific size and shape during the imprinting reaction. To address this problem, [PERSON] et al. presented a novel Pickering emulsion polymerization strategy for the preparation of a series of small molecules and protein imprinted polymers [21; 22] in which the dispersed liquid droplets are stabilized by solid particles instead of surfactants. Recently, they further proposed the synthesis of bacteria recognition polymers to detect _Escherichia coli_ and _Microoccus luteus_ by exploiting the capability of bacteria to self-assemble at an oil-water interface [23]. The Pickering emulsion is a solid particle-stabilized emulsion which is either oil-in-water (O/W) or water-in-oil (W/O) [24]. Versus traditional emulsion polymerization, dispersed liquid droplets are stabilized by solid particles instead of conventional surfactants [25]. Because of the lower toxicity, well controlled size, and high mechanical strength, Pickering emulsion polymerization has been widely applied to synthesize MIPs for the specific recognition of small molecules, such as bifenthrin, malachite green, and bisphenols [26; 27; 28]. However, the application of Pickering emulsion polymerization for bacteria-based MIPs is still relatively unexplored.