The Science of Food

This web log serves as a forum for news, views and discussion about all things related to the science of food: food chemistry, microbiology, engineering, process technology, and nutrition. Also discussed are issues related to food safety, GMO foods, organic foods, health and wellness, and news about what's going on in the PSU Food Science Department.

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The psychology of hating food (and how we learn to love it)

Ku-xlargeKids who hate stinky cheese and greens often grow into adults who can't get enough of them. Why do our tastes seem to transform in our teens? And can we change our tastes deliberately as adults? Here's what scientists know so far about innate preferences, learned preferences, and lessons from taste psychology.  [MORE]

May 13, 2013 in Sensory Science | Permalink

Silicon Valley And The Reinvention Of Food

Soylent-Green_320Fake meats have been around for years, but a new crop of Bay Area startups backed by tech investors think they can make meat substitutes good enough to compete with the real deal. Beyond Meat — backed by Twitter founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone via their company Obvious Corp — created an eerily accurate chicken substitute, for example.

But the most ambitious project is Rob Rhinehart‘s cheekily named “Soylent,” an attempt to replace food entirely with a liquid shake that has all the protein, fat, carbohydrates and micronutrients you need. [MORE]

May 06, 2013 in Food Product Development, Food Technology, Food Trends | Permalink

How do you make eggs out of plants? (And why?)

K-bigpic (1)As food science and our understanding plant proteins expands by leafs and stems, some food-thinking entrepreneurs are looking for ways to make our agricultural products safer, more environmentally sustainable, more humane, and yes, cheaper. Recently, I paid a visit to food science startup Hampton Creek Foods to learn about one such undertaking: the quest to make an egg out of plant proteins. [MORE]

May 01, 2013 in Food Chemistry, Food Product Development | Permalink

The Scandalous History and Strange Physics of Donuts

DoughnutBecause food is comfortable and domestic we tend to forget that it's also part of an ongoing scientific process of discovery. Even the humble doughnut has its own history that includes physics, technology, and competing claims of intellectual property. [MORE] 

April 21, 2013 in Food History, Food Physics | Permalink

How To Recognize the Plastics That Are Hazardous To Your Health

K-bigpicBy George Dvorsky and Joseph Bennington-Castro. The chemicals contained in plastics can be quite harmful. But given that "plastic" can mean a wide variety of substances, it's difficult to know which ones are bad for us. Here’s everything you need to know about plastic and an its impact on your health. [MORE]

More on this topic from Food Safety Magazine at: The Safety of Beverages in Plastic Bottles.

April 15, 2013 in Food Packaging | Permalink

Bill Gates: Food Is Ripe for Innovation

FutureFoodThe global population is on track to reach 9 billion by 2050. What are all those people going to eat? With billions of people adding more animal protein to their diets — meat consumption is expected to double by 2050 — it seems clear that arable land for raising livestock won’t be able to keep up. "That’s one reason why I’m excited about innovations taking place now in food production, which especially interests me as someone who worries about the poor getting enough to eat." Food scientists are developing plant-based alternatives to meat that are produced more sustainably.[MORE]

April 01, 2013 in Food Product Development, Food Technology | Permalink

“Modern chicken has no flavor” — let’s make it in a lab

Chicken-620x412Of the roughly five thousand additives allowed into food, over half are flavorings. These thousands of taste molecules serve not only as window-dressing designed to make food hyperappealing, but often as the very foundation of the house itself. Consider KFC’s gravy, a product with at least seven flavoring ingredients, or nearly a third of the total:

Food Starch-Modified, Maltodextrin, Enriched Wheat Flour (Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Chicken Fat, Wheat Flour, Salt, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, Monosodium Glutamate, Dextrose, Palm and Canola Oils, Mono- and Diglycerides, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Natural and Artificial Flavor (with Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Milk), Caramel Color (Treated with Sulfiting Agents), Onion Powder, Disodium Inosinate, Disodium Guanylate, Spice, Spice Extractives, with Not More Than 2% Silicon Dioxide Added as an Anticaking Agent.... [More]

March 17, 2013 in Food Chemistry, Food History, Sensory Science | Permalink

Scientific Reasons to Respect Light Beer

OriginalIt's common to disparage light beers. As craft beers have elbowed their way into American refrigerators and taps, light beers have become punch lines. What few drinkers know, however, is that quality light beers are incredibly difficult to brew. "Light beer is a brewer's beer. It may be bland, but it's really tough to do.[MORE]

March 09, 2013 in Food and Drink, Food Product Development | Permalink

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

24cover-sfSpanThe growing attention Americans are paying to what they put into their mouths has touched off a new scramble by the processed-food companies to address health concerns. Pressed by the Obama administration and consumers, Kraft, Nestlé, Pepsi, Campbell and General Mills, among others, have begun to trim the loads of salt, sugar and fat in many products. And with consumer advocates pushing for more government intervention, Coca-Cola made headlines in January by releasing ads that promoted its bottled water and low-calorie drinks as a way to counter obesity.[MORE]

February 20, 2013 in Diet and Nutrition, Food Product Development, Food Trends, Sensory Science | Permalink

MRI texture analysis as means for addressing rehydration and milk diffusion in cereals

A recent food physics article from (where else?) the Improbable Results science blog (1/2013).

Abstract: Cereals microstructure is one of the primary quality attributes of cereals. Cereals rehydration and milk diffusion depends on such microstructure and thus, the crispiness and the texture, which will make it more palatable for the final consumer. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a very powerful topographic tool since acquisition parameter leads to a wide possibility for identifying textures, structures and liquids mobility. It is suited for non-invasive imaging of water and fats. Rehydration and diffusion cereals processes were measured by MRI at different times and using two different kinds of milk, varying their fat level. Several images were obtained. A combination of textural analysis (based on the analysis of histograms) and segmentation methods (in order to understand the rehydration level of each variety of cereals) were performed. According to the rehydration level, no advisable clustering behavior was found. Nevertheless, some differences were noticeable between the coating, the type of milk and the variety of cereals. [Full text of article]

January 02, 2013 in Food Physics | Permalink

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