Food Science

A halved slice of edible 3D-printed cake.

Scientists 3D Printed a Slice of Cake

The seven-ingredient recipe shows potential for the future of making food with this technology, researchers say

Baofeng Su, a fish genetics researcher at Auburn University, is part of a team of scientists studying the effectiveness of injecting alligator genes into farm-raised catfish.

Scientists Are Injecting Alligator Genes Into Catfish

The technique could help prevent infections in the millions of pounds of farmed catfish raised for human consumption

The cabbage soup diet of the 1950s allowed the indulgence in as much cabbage soup as one could consume.

The Seesawing History of Fad Diets

Since dieting began in the 1830s, the ever-changing nutritional advice has skimped on science

Saliva impacts how different foods taste.

How Saliva Changes the Flavor of Food

The liquid impacts how we perceive taste and can influence what we choose to eat

Pollinators, including bees, are suffering because of human activities.

Shrinking Pollinator Populations Could Be Killing 427,000 People Per Year

New research explores the relationship between human health and crop loss due to pollination deficits around the world

The elusive yeast strain had been lurking in the soil at the University College Dublin in Ireland.

Elusive Yeast That Gave Rise to Lagers Found in Europe for the First Time

Students in Ireland discovered the ancestral fungus in the soil on their university's campus

After 30 years of research, a Greek archaeologist can tell today’s fishery biologists how bountiful the Mediterranean Sea once was.

Unearthing the Original Mediterranean Diet

An archaeologist works to find out how much fish ancient Greeks ate

Twelve-year-old Madison Checketts was named one of the 30 finalists in the 2022 Broadcom Masters Competition, the country’s premier science, technology, engineering and math competition for middle school students.

This 12-Year-Old Designed a Water Bottle You Can Eat

After seeing plastic polluting her favorite beaches year after year, Madison Checketts decided it was time to do something about it

Fungi and bacteria play a big part in shaping the flavor and texture of cheese.

The Science Behind Your Cheese

The food is not just a tasty snack—it’s an ecosystem

Rice is a major staple crop around the world.

Perennial Rice Could Raise Yields and Cut Costs

These plants that grow back year after year show promise, but they are not a silver bullet

This year's titles include Watermelon and Red Birds, To Boldly Grow, Budmo! and Diasporican.

The Best Books of 2022

The Ten Best Books About Food of 2022

From cookbooks to memoirs to food history, these ten titles will fill you up

Chicken nuggets made from lab-grown meat in Singapore, the only country where lab-grown meat can currently be sold. 

Lab-Grown Meat Is Safe to Eat, FDA Says

The “no kill” product cultivated from animal cells has only small regulatory hurdles left before it can be sold in restaurants

Under the right conditions, researchers say, some crop yields could increase by 50 percent or more.

Is Hacking Photosynthesis the Key to Increasing Crop Yields?

It’s an agricultural moonshot, but scientists hope to make plants like corn, wheat and barley as heat and drought resistant as cactus

Researchers analyzed teeth from a carp-like fish.

New Research

Early Humans May Have Cooked Fish 780,000 Years Ago

New research adds to the debate about when humans began cooking with fire

Cows produced more saliva and snot, were wobbly on their feet and moved their tongues around a lot after eating high-cannabinoid hemp.

Cows That Ate Hemp Produced Milk With THC and CBD

New research adds insights to the debate over using industrial hemp as livestock feed

The 6,000-year-old watermelon seeds from Uan Muhuggiag (left) border a child eating a modern watermelon.

Why Prehistoric Herders Didn't Spit Out Their Watermelon Seeds

Thousands of years ago, Saharans ate the kernels before the fruit became sweet

Truffles have spread around the world, including to countries in South America.

How Truffles Took Root Around the World

For centuries, the wild delicacy grew only in Europe. But improved cultivation techniques have enabled the pricey fungus to be farmed in new places.

An experimental vineyard at Cornell AgriTech’s McCarthy Farm in Geneva, New York, where researchers are studying hybrid grapes

Are Hybrid Grapes the Future of Wine?

Scientists, growers and winemakers are working with experimental varieties to adapt to the effects of climate change

A vendor displays chili peppers at a local market in India. 

Why Do Some Humans Love Chili Peppers?

An anthropologist traces the origins and paths of one of his favorite kinds of plants

Breadfruit grows on trees.

Is Breadfruit the Climate Change-Proof Food of the Future?

New research suggests it will fare better than our current staple crops under warming conditions

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