Food News

June 1, 2024

Top Headlines

Rapid Urbanization in Africa Transforms Local Food Systems and Threatens Biodiversity

May 30, 2024 — Urbanization in Africa is accelerating quickly, showing no signs of slowing down. An international team of researchers addresses critical gaps in our understanding of how this urbanization affects ...

Scientists Develop Visual Tool to Help People Group Foods Based on Their Levels of Processing

May 30, 2024 — Scientists studying ultra-processed foods have created a new tool for assessing the rewarding and reinforcing properties of foods that make up 58 percent of calories consumed in the United States. ...

Smarter Foragers Do Not Forage Smarter

May 28, 2024 — Why do primates have big brains? In the Panamanian rainforest, scientists pitted large-brained primates against smaller-brained mammals to find out who was the smartest ...

New Research Approach: Exploring the Mouthfeel of Food With a Microscope

May 29, 2024 — A new perspectives article focuses on different ways to study the mouthfeel of food using atomic force microscopy to better understand the biophysical mechanisms that contribute to taste sensations in a broader sense. New findings in this area could ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:58pm EDT

Picture This: Snapping Photos of Our Food Could Be Good for Us

May 30, 2024 — Research reveals taking pictures of food isn't just content for our social media feeds, but could be the key to improving people's ...

Intermittent Fasting Shows Promise in Improving Gut Health, Weight Management

May 28, 2024 — Participants following an intermittent fasting and protein-pacing regimen, which involves evenly spaced protein intake throughout the day, saw better ...

Improved Refrigeration Could Save Nearly Half of the 1.3 Billion Tons of Food Wasted Each Year Globally

May 28, 2024 — A new study concludes that nearly half of the food waste, about 620 million metric tons, could be eliminated by fully refrigerated food supply chains ...

Simple Food Swaps Could Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Household Groceries by a Quarter

May 28, 2024 — Switching food and drink purchases to very similar but more environmentally friendly alternatives could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from ...

Sense of Belonging and Food Choices

May 23, 2024 — New research has revealed that feeling a sense of belonging to a social group can have a significant impact on our food choices, potentially nudging us towards healthier options. This could have ...

Mistaken Identity Cleared Up of Foodborne Pathogen Causing Severe Symptoms in Children

May 23, 2024 — Researchers have developed a quantitative real-time PCR-based detection method for the emerging zoonotic organism Escherichia albertii. They found ...

Eating More Ultra-Processed Foods Tied to Cognitive Decline, Stroke, According to Study

May 22, 2024 — People who eat more ultra-processed foods like soft drinks, chips and cookies may have a higher risk of having memory and thinking problems and ...

Gene Could Unlock Big Wheat Yields for a Growing Population

May 22, 2024 — A study has discovered molecular pathways regulated by a gene traditionally used to control wheat-flowering behavior could be altered to achieve greater ...

Developing Novel Methods to Detect Antibiotics in Vegetables and Earthworms

May 23, 2024 — Researchers have managed to analyze, simultaneously, several families of antibiotics in vegetables and earthworms. Sampling carried out in various locations has yielded data on the existence of ...

The Impacts of Climate Change on Food Production

May 20, 2024 — A new study shows that climate change has led to decreased pollen production from plants and less pollen diversity than previously thought, which could have a significant impact on food ...

Chocolate's Tasty Flavors Might Pose a Risk in Other Desserts

May 29, 2024 — What makes chocolate taste and smell so delicious? Chemistry, of course! A variety of molecules work together to create that unmistakable aroma, but those same molecules might carry some unwanted ...

Chocolate That Harnesses the Full Potential of the Cocoa Fruit

May 21, 2024 — Researchers have developed a type of chocolate that is more sustainable and nutritious than conventional varieties. Cocoa-fruit chocolate uses cocoa fruit jelly as a replacement for powdered sugar, ...

Researchers Find Unique Adaptations of Fungus Associated With Bee Bread

May 21, 2024 — The past attempts of honey bee researchers to inventory the fungal diversity in honey bee colonies revealed that Aspergillus flavus is frequently found in hives. In a new study, researchers have ...

Sweet Taste Receptor Affects How Glucose Is Handled Metabolically by Humans

May 17, 2024 — The sweet-taste receptor might be the first stop in a metabolic surveillance system for sugar. The receptor is also expressed in certain intestinal cells, where it may facilitate glucose absorption ...

Natural Toxins in Food: Many People Are Not Aware of the Health Risks

May 16, 2024 — Many people are concerned about residues of chemicals, contaminants or microplastics in their food. However, it is less well known that many foods also contain toxins of completely natural origin. ...

Study Reveals Consumers Value Animal Welfare More Than Environmental Sustainability When Buying Meat and Dairy Products

May 16, 2024 — The treatment of animals rates higher than green issues when consumers choose meat and dairy products. That's according to a new study, which suggests that while consumers consider ...

Temperature, Time and Blueberry Wine

May 15, 2024 — Nutrient-rich blueberries -- a common breakfast smoothie ingredient -- can also create wine. But does the heat and time required to ferment this mighty berry strip out any of those potential ...

Eurasian Jays Can Use 'Mental Time Travel' Like Humans, Study Finds

May 15, 2024 — Eurasian jays can remember incidental details of past events, which is characteristic of episodic memory in humans, according to a new ...

Two Decades of Studies Suggest Health Benefits Associated With Plant-Based Diets

May 15, 2024 — Vegetarian and vegan diets are generally associated with better status on various medical factors linked to cardiovascular health and cancer risk, as well as lower risk of cardiovascular diseases, ...

Avocado Pruning Residues Used to Produce More Sustainable Food Packaging

May 14, 2024 — A prototype of a more durable material increases the biodegradability of food packaging, partially replacing its bioplastic with cellulose fibers extracted from the branches and leaves of the avocado ...

Prostate Cancer Study: More Health Benefits from Plant-Based Diet

May 13, 2024 — Men with prostate cancer could significantly reduce the chances of the disease worsening by eating more fruits, vegetables, nuts, and olive oil, according to new ...

Scientists Cooked Pancakes, Brussels Sprouts, and Stir Fry to Detect an Oxidant Indoors

May 7, 2024 — A feast cooked up has revealed singlet oxygen, an oxidant, indoors. Oxidants can be beneficial -- ozone in the stratosphere is one example -- but can also cause stress to our lungs, contributing to ...

Is It Time to Retire the Best-Before Date?

Apr. 30, 2024 — The inventors of a suite of tests that enable food packages to signal if their contents are contaminated are working to bring producers and regulators together to get their inventions into commercial ...

Discovery of Mechanism Plants Use to Change Seed Oil Could Impact Industrial, Food Oils

Apr. 30, 2024 — Researchers have discovered a new mechanism of oil biosynthesis and found a way to genetically engineer a type of test plant to more efficiently produce different kinds of seed oil that it otherwise ...

Childcare Pick-Up: A 1-Hour Window to Build Healthier Eating Habits

Apr. 30, 2024 — After-care food and drink accounted for about 22% of the day's added sugar and about one-third of the sweet and salty snack foods the children ate, according to a new ...

Cranberry Extracts Could Boost Microbiota and Counter Cardiometabolic Diseases

Apr. 30, 2024 — Cranberry extracts appear to improve intestinal microbiota and help prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. The study reported beneficial effects after only four days ...

One in Eight Grown-Ups Love Extreme Tartness

Apr. 29, 2024 — For most people, biting into a lemon would leave them puckered up and desperate to lose that sour flavor, but a new study revealed that roughly one in eight adults like intensely sour sensations. The ...

More Plants on the Menu of Ancient Hunter-Gatherers

Apr. 29, 2024 — It has long been thought that meat played an important role in the diet of hunter-gatherers before the Neolithic transition. However, due to the scarcity of well-preserved human remains from ...

Fixin' to Be Flexitarian: Scrap Fish and Invasive Species Can Liven Up Vegetables

Apr. 29, 2024 — Greening the way we eat needn't mean going vegetarian. A healthy, more realistic solution is to adopt a flexitarian diet where seafoods add umami to 'boring' vegetables. A ...

Food in Sight? The Liver Is Ready!

Apr. 25, 2024 — What happens in the body when we are hungry and see and smell food? A team of researchers has now been able to show in mice that adaptations in the liver mitochondria take place after only a few ...