Food technology

Along with single servings of coffee, we've also seen Keurig-like pods used to dispense cocktails, wine, fresh tortillas and even full meals. ColdSnap forges into different territory, by serving up fresh ice cream and other frosty treats.

Even if you like cooking, it can still be a hassle transferring ingredients between bowls – all of which subsequently have to be washed. Cuisinart's new Complete Chef food processor was designed with that in mind, as it also cooks what it slices and dices.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a genetically modified pig for human consumption and therapeutic use. The pig is engineered to be free of a certain sugar molecule responsible for severe allergic reactions in some people.

While you might think that dried almonds are one of the "safer" foods, they're actually prone to contamination by harmful bacteria. A simple new process could help keep that from happening, while also boosting their shelf life.

Scientists have genetically modified a tomato to produce L-DOPA, a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease. The researchers say the innovation could be an easier way to produce the medicine in regions where access to the synthesized drug is restricted.

The future of food security, sustainable agriculture and the environment as a whole calls for a lower reliance on meat products over the coming decades, and a newly announced XPrize contest puts this issue center stage.

With our consumption of meat continuing to place a huge strain on the environment, the emergence of lab-grown alternatives is beginning to pick up steam, and a world-first regulatory approval today should help things along.

When you think of processes that could benefit from a high-tech makeover, the drying of fruit may not be the first that comes to mind. It turns out, however, that the use of "ionic wind" for fruit-dehydration saves energy and preserves nutrients.

An international team of scientists has developed a technology that could help avoid vast amounts of food wastage, in the form of an electronic nose that relies on color-changing barcodes to track the freshness of different meats.

No one likes the idea of biting into a cookie (or other food item) and finding a piece of glass, wood or plastic inside. An experimental new system is designed to keep that from happening, utilizing radar technology.

Given that not everyone has the same tolerance for hot chilis, it would be good if there were a simple, portable means of objectively assessing how hot they are. Well, scientists have developed just such a gadget – and it plugs into a smartphone.

Alphabet’s X moonshot factory is a research group working to solve big-picture ideas through technological innovation, and for its latest venture the team is turning its attention to sustainable farming.