Most people think of bacteria as something that makes you sick. While bacteria can certainly be responsible for various illnesses and everyday annoyances, not all bacteria are bad for you.
In fact, without the bacteria that live in everyone's digestive system, our bodies wouldn't be able to properly process food. People are increasingly turning to probiotics as a way to create a healthier balance of gut bacteria. Probiotics are living microorganisms that when consumed in sufficient quantities can exert beneficial health benefits. Often referred to as friendly bacteria or good bacteria, probiotics increase the abundance of beneficial microbiota and/or decrease the abundance of detrimental microbiota in the gut.
Probiotics are available in a growing number of foods, beverages, and dietary supplements. Fermented foods, such as cultured milk, yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, tempeh, kimchi, miso, and kombucha, are known sources of probiotics.
If you are interested in learning more after watching our video, check out The Role of Probiotics in Metabolic Health.
CRISPR is a defining feature of the bacterial genetic code and its immune system, functioning as a defense system that bacteria use to protect themselves against attacks from viruses. The acronym “CRISPR” stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
Biotechnology, and the newer methods of genetic modification—genetic engineering and recombinant (r) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) techniques and technologies can be very useful in pursuing important improvements in food production and the food supply and doing so much more readily and effectively than previously possible.
The popularity of Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies reached new heights in 2017. Bitcoin is the most prominent in a new type of currency, called cryptocurrency, where transactions are made without an established intermediary (i.e. banks).
IFT President Chris Downs reflects on megatrends identified by CSIRO and the 2023 IFT FIRST programming.
This column explores the sustainability and economic aspects of producing and processing alternative protein products, whether plant-based, algal, cellular, or insect.
Emerging ultraviolet light technologies will advance food safety from field to fork, says novel processing research scientist Tatiana Koutchma.
The 2022 IFT Division Oral Competitions drew hundreds of research paper submissions.
Formulators of plant-based foods want their products to taste less astringent. So an engineer, a food scientist, and an oral biologist are teaming up to solve the problem.
Join us to celebrate the Global Food System Challenge Growth Grant Winners. Representatives from Food Systems for the Future (FSF Institute), iDE Global, and the African Center for Technology Studies discuss their work and the role that the generous funding from Seeding The Future Foundation plays in helping to make healthier diets more accessible and empowers consumers to make choices benefitting both personal and planetary health.
Join us to celebrate the Global Food System Challenge Grand Prize Winners. Representatives from the International Rice Research Institute, Solar Freeze, and WorldFish discuss their work and the role that the generous funding from Seeding The Future Foundation plays in helping to make healthier diets more accessible and empowers consumers to make choices benefitting both personal and planetary health.
