Human norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States. Contamination by viruses occurs at low levels in large samples of fresh food. As in vitro cultivation methods are not feasible, viruses must be concentrated prior to genomic extraction and detection to achieve an accurate result. We are investigating the use of magnetic ionic liquids (MILs) as a reagent that could better separate and concentrate viruses from food samples. MILs are a class of hydrophobic molten salts that have portable properties, which make them promising for in-field applications such as identifying foodborne-related outbreaks. This project evaluates the performance of 4 MIL formulations to concentrate MS2 bacteriophage, a human norovirus surrogate. MS2 bacteriophage was diluted to 10^5 PFU/mL in PBS and captured using 4 MILs (Cobalt-, Nickel-, Manganese-, and Dysprosium-based). After vortexing, magnetic separation of the bound virus-MIL particles from the suspension was conducted. Unbound virus was removed so that the captured virus could be eluted using modified Luria Broth. The recovered virus, as well as virus not captured, were quantified using TRizol extraction and RT-qPCR. Each MIL formulation had varied responsiveness to capture and concentration of virus. Additionally, using plaque assay, we determined the concentration of recovered MS2 particles for each MIL. These findings suggest that MILs have potential as a concentration reagent for viruses in food and environmental samples. Future experiments will investigate the performance of MIL concentration in MS2-inoculated food samples.