The Science of Food

Silicon Valley And The Reinvention Of Food

Fake 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]

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

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]

Bill Gates: Food Is Ripe for Innovation

The 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]

Scientific Reasons to Respect Light Beer

It'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]

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

The 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]

Bread that lasts for 60 days could cut food waste

An American company has developed a technique that it says can make bread stay mould-free for 60 days. The bread is zapped in a sophisticated microwave array which kills the spores that cause the problem. The company claims it could significantly reduce the amount of wasted bread - in the UK alone, almost a third of loaves purchased. The technique can also be used with a wide range of foods including fresh turkey and many fruits and vegetables. [MORE]

The Physics of Spilled Coffee

Scientists face many obstacles on the path to greater knowledge. But new research suggests how to avoid one of the more common pitfalls: spilled coffee.

"I cannot say for sure if coffee spilling has been detrimental to scientific research to any significant extent," says study author Rouslan Krechetnikov, a mechanical engineer at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "But it can certainly be disruptive for a train of thought."

Krechetnikov and his graduate student Hans Mayer decided to investigate coffee spilling at a fluid dynamics conference last year when they watched overburdened participants trying to carry their drinks to and fro. They quickly realized that the physics wasn't simple. Aside from the mechanics of human walking, which depends on a person's age, health, and gender, there is the highly involved science of liquid sloshing, which depends on a complex interplay of accelerations, torques, and forces.     

{Let's not forget the physical characteristics of the fluid e.g. temperature and viscosity. Perhaps there are produce development applications for convenience beverages designed to be consumed on the go!}

Vegetarian Cutlet: New Method to Prepare a Meat Substitute

ScienceDaily (Mar. 6, 2012) — It looks like a cutlet, it's juicy and fibrous like a cutlet, and it even chews with the consistency of a real cutlet -- but the ingredients are 100 percent vegetable. Researchers are using a new method to prepare a meat substitute that not only tastes good, but is also environmentally sustainable.

Meat production is complicated, costly and not eco-friendly: fatted animals have to consume five to eight kilos of grain just to generate one kilogram of meat. It would be simpler and more sustainable if one were to make cutlets out of seed -- without the detour through the animal's body. Impossible? Not entirely...{MORE}

MREs get a new kick with caffeinated jerky and Zapplesauce

By Christian Davenport, October 29 2001

Natick, Mass. — And now, from the folks who developed the atomic bomb, Kevlar underwear and the Humvee, presenting the latest in war-fighting technology:

Caffeinated meat.

That’s right, an Army lab here is testing a beef jerky stick that looks and tastes just like your average Slim Jim but contains an equivalent of a cup of coffee’s worth of caffeine to give even the sleepiest soldier that up-and-at-’em boost.

After a decade of war, military food scientists have been hard at work at a little-known research facility outside Boston transforming the field ration — known as the Meal, Ready to Eat, and perhaps the most complained about food in the world — into something not just good-tasting but full of energy-enhancing ingredients. [MORE]

Growing Meat in the Lab: Scientists Initiate Action Plan to Advance Cultured Meat

ScienceDaily (Sep. 7, 2011) — Late last week, an international group of scientists took a step closer to their goal to produce cultured meat. They agreed on important common positions about how to bring the research forward during a workshop in Gothenburg, Sweden, arranged by Chalmers University of Technology and the European Science Foundation. [MORE]

See an earilier post on this topic [LINK]