Food Science

For 19th-century American bakers—who slaved for hours trying to make their doughs rise and their cakes puff up—the advent of baking powder was a revolution in a can.

The Great Uprising: How a Powder Revolutionized Baking

Before baking powder hit the scene in 1856, making cake was not a piece of cake

Baskets of local fruit for sale in Niagara, Ontario. Peaches are more frequently being grown in cold-weather climates like Canada as climate change affects the viability of crops.

Canadian Peaches and California Coffee: How Farmers Are Being Forced to Innovate in the Face of Climate Change

As the climate changes and global temperatures rise, farmers are having to change cultivation techniques and sometimes even crops.

When it comes to a crowdsourcing campaign, food might be an easier sell than feces. “Food is this amazing platform because we all have a connection to it, we all can relate,” says microbiologist Rachel Dutton. Not that poop isn't relatable, but, you know.

You Are What You Eat, And What You Eat Is Millions of Microbes

Now that they’ve tallied up American feces, researchers are turning to the other half of the microbial equation: food

Black soldier fly larvae

Got Food Waste? Get Some Maggots

In just a few hours, these tiny crawlers can eat more than their weight in food

How Common Are Food Allergies?

Roughly 3.6 percent of Americans have at least one food allergy or intolerance, study says

The Maillard Reaction's best-known application is in tasty, tasty food.

Why Food Smells So Good When It’s Browning

A complex chemical reaction called the Maillard Reaction is responsible

Taste receptors for salty, sweet, bitter and sour are found all over the tongue.

The Taste Map of the Tongue You Learned in School Is All Wrong

Modern biology shows that taste receptors aren't nearly as simple as that cordoned-off model would lead you to believe

Can you tell which it is?

The 1870s Dairy Lobby Turned Margarine Pink So People Would Buy Butter

Margarine or butter? The question has deep roots, and you shouldn't even ask it in Wisconsin

Chocolate, coffee and tea all played a role in overturning a medical theory that had dominated the Western world for more than a millennium.

How Coffee, Chocolate and Tea Overturned a 1,500-Year-Old Medical Mindset

The humoral system dominated medicine since the Ancient Greeks—but it was no match for these New World beverages

Did Peckish Christians Make Chickens More Social?

Religious dietary laws in the Middle Ages could have helped make the fowl less aggressive

Would you trust nutrition research underwritten by a GMO company?

People Don’t Trust Scientific Research When Companies Are Involved

But sometimes, they should

From the outside, the James Beard House is easy to miss. But as they say, it's what's inside that counts.

This Unassuming NYC Home is the Legacy of America's First Foodie

James Beard’s culinary philosophy helped shape American cuisine

The Unsavory History of Sugar, the Insatiable American Craving

How the nation got hooked on sweets

A new safety test for foodborne pathogens involves an interaction between a droplet and bacterial proteins that can be seen through a smartphone camera.

Can a Camera, a QR Code and Some Bubbles Test For E. Coli In Our Food?

MIT researchers are pursuing a newer, faster test for foodborne pathogens

A new study recommends that the peanut-allergic try consuming other nuts—but only under the supervision of a licensed allergist.

Tree Nut Allergies May Be Massively Overdiagnosed

But don’t go for the jar of almond butter just yet

This dress is made with the power of cow manure.

Fashion Made From Cow Poo Wins Innovation Award

Mestic looks to manure to produce bioplastic, paper and fashion-forward textiles

Don't worry: It's beef.

New Study Fleshes Out the Nutritional Value of Human Meat

The caloric value of the human body is surprisingly low compared to other prehistoric food options

To develop the next big mass-market wine, winemakers first hone flavor using focus groups, then add approved flavoring and coloring additives to make the drink match up with what consumers want.

The Science Behind Your Cheap Wine

How advances in bottling, fermenting and taste-testing are democratizing a once-opaque liquid

Your vending machine is judging you.

Brief Vending Machine Delay Helps People Make Better Snack Choices

When a vending machine withheld junky snacks for 25 seconds, people were slightly more likely to choose a healthier option

Vanilla has risen to become one the most popular and costly spices in existence.

The Bittersweet Story of Vanilla

Today, less than 1 percent of vanilla flavoring comes from the vanilla flower. Is that a good thing?

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