Food technology

RMIT researchers claim FiberX can add up to 20% more healthy dietary fiber to food, without any detectable change to its color, texture or taste. Best of all, the team says it can be made from starches that would otherwise be agricultural waste.

Although plain popcorn is a relatively healthy snack, it's still not one that most people would think of as being very nutritious. That could change, however, as a new variety reportedly offers nearly twice the normal levels of an important nutrient.

With demand for vegetable oil only expected to increase, a team of scientists in Singapore has demonstrated a way of increasing the yield of oil from plants through genetic engineering, which could increase the output by as much as 18%.

There’s nothing like whipped cream to top off a dessert, but its high fat content comes with a side order of guilt. Now, researchers have found that saturated fat can be substituted with bacteria, to make whipped cream at two common consistencies.

Scientists have developed a new method of providing information on 3D-printed foods, by printing a QR code within the food itself. Doing so doesn't affect the taste or outward appearance of the food, nor does it require the use of any labels.

Just because a food item may be frozen when you buy it, that doesn't mean it wasn't thawed and refrozen somewhere along the line. A new self-powered sensor, however, would change color to let you know if that had happened.

After more than a decade of development a nutritionally enhanced purple tomato has been deemed safe to grow by the USDA. The tomatoes have been gene edited to produce 10 times more antioxidants than pre-existing varieties.

Although Wagyu beef is renowned for its rich marbling, it does still come from slaughtered cattle – a fact that doesn't sit well with many people. Steakholder Foods is developing an alternative, in the form of its 3D-printed Omakase Beef Morsels.

Sodium nitrite is often added to cured meats, in order to prevent spoilage and provide flavor. It can also cause health problems in large amounts, however, which is why a color-changing film has been created to indicate nitrite levels.

Scientists have improved on the natural process of photosynthesis, not only growing plants more efficiently, but doing so in the dark. This could expand agriculture to areas that don’t get enough sunlight, and even help feed future space explorers.

Plastic wraps and food containers generate huge amounts of waste. Now researchers at Harvard and Rutgers have developed a new plant-based, antimicrobial coating that can be sprayed onto food to keep it fresh, and easily washed off before consumption.

Opening a pizzeria could soon be as simple as leasing a small business space, then sticking a robot in there. That's the idea behind the Pizzaiola system, which takes human cooks and other kitchen staff out of the equation.