Food

As the demand for plant-based meat and dairy options grows, vegan burgers, nuggets, and beverages have been in the spotlight for sustainable protein alternatives. But unlike their meatless burger counterparts, plant-based eggs haven’t received the same attention from researchers — until now.  

Nanoplastics are everywhere. These fragments are so tiny they can accumulate on bacteria and be taken up by plant roots; they’re in our food, our water, and our bodies. Scientists don’t know the full extent of their impacts on our health, but new research from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign food scientists suggests certain nanoplastics may make foodborne pathogens more virulent. 

When West Virginia recently banned seven artificial food dyes in products to be sold within their borders, they joined an increasing number of individual U.S. states issuing their own regulations about food manufacturing practices, allowable ingredients, or product labeling. Consequently, food manufacturers must decide how to deal with different requirements in multiple markets.

As the global population grows, the demand for food and energy is increasing even as extreme weather events make crops more vulnerable to stress. While traditional breeding takes years to develop more resilient crops, plant bioengineering offers a faster, more precise way to improve traits for higher yields and better stress tolerance.

But engineering plants to enhance their helpful traits is a complex process demanding significant time and labor.

Scientists have spent decades genetically modifying the bacterium Escherichia coli and other microbes to convert carbon dioxide into useful biological products. Most methods require additional carbon sources, however, adding to the cost. A new study overcomes this limitation by combining the photosynthetic finesse of a single-celled algae with the production capabilities of the bacteria E. coli.

The researchers report their results in the journal Metabolic Engineering.

AI is changing the way we work, create, and share information — but brownies? A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores how ChatGPT can be used in the sensory evaluation of foods, specifically brownies. The study offers insights that could streamline development of new products, and possibly enhance recipes moving forward. 

Personalized nutrition (PN) has gained popularity in recent years as a customized approach to health outcomes. PN combines biomedical, genetic, and lifestyle data to provide individualized recommendations, and a plethora of companies offer various forms of health screenings, apps, programs, products, and diet advice.

Nanozymes are synthetic materials that have enzyme-like catalytic properties, and they are broadly used for biomedical purposes, such as disease diagnostics. However, inorganic nanozymes are generally toxic, expensive, and complicated to produce, making them unsuitable for the agricultural and food industries.

Energy drinks are becoming an increasingly important topic in public health, nutrition and food policy, with global sales more than doubling from 2018-2023 and product selection expanding by 20% since 2021.

Longtime Chicago residents may miss the chocolatey fragrance wafting from Blommer Chocolate Company's now-shuttered West Loop factory. However, despite the closing of the factory, the Chicago headquarters and laboratories of one of North America’s largest cocoa processor remain.