Verifying Builds Trust in Breakthrough Technology

When I look back on my career, a few turning points stand out. One came in the 1980s, when I was tasked with testing whether near-infrared (NIR) technology could reliably measure butterfat and solids in dairy products. At the time, the standard approach was labor-intensive chemical analysis, requiring time, people, and resources.

The idea that a single instrument might do this work quickly and accurately was both thrilling and unsettling. Some colleagues worried it was “too good to be true” or too complex for anyone without a PhD to operate. But after months of careful side-by-side comparisons, we found the technology worked—and it worked reliably. With training, anyone on the team could use it.

That experience taught me a lesson I’ve carried forward ever since: new technology can feel intimidating, but when tested and trusted, it can transform our work, amplify our ideas, and accelerate progress.

Several years later, I saw a similar dynamic with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) testing for sanitation, which detects contamination by measuring a bioluminescent reaction to ATP—the energy molecule present in living cells. Previously, verifying equipment cleanliness required extensive visual inspection, taking samples, plating them on agar, and waiting a day or two for results. ATP testing delivered an answer in minutes. For food safety and efficiency, that was a game changer. Still, some wondered if it was too risky to depend on.

Again, the lesson was clear: adoption requires both rigorous validation and a willingness to let go of old habits.

Those experiences echo loudly today as our profession faces a new wave of technological innovation. In agriculture, companies like Pairwise are applying CRISPR to build more resilient crops—everything from salad greens that appeal to consumers to climate-critical cocoa trees licensed by Mars. In a recent interview with Food Technology (see page 30), Pairwise CEO Tom Adams noted that sometimes the simplest product improvements—like removing the seeds from blackberries to reveal a hidden “flavor burst”—can demonstrate value and open the door to greater consumer acceptance of cutting-edge technology.

Technology adoption has always required courage, validation, and a mindset of ‘trust but verify.’

Peggy Poole

President, IFT

The promise is real, but so are the questions. Will consumers embrace gene editing more readily than GMOs? Can regulatory frameworks keep pace?

Closer to home, at IFT we have stepped boldly into this space with the launch of CoDeveloper, our proprietary AI-powered R&D platform. Introduced at IFT FIRST in July, CoDeveloper brings together 85 years of food science content with the speed and scale of generative AI. It’s built by food scientists for food scientists, with enterprise-grade data security so your questions, formulas, and work remain yours alone.

For those of us who have lived through the long arc from bench chemistry to digital platforms, this is both exhilarating and necessary. Product development cycles are shorter, market pressures are greater, and the need for science-based tools has never been more urgent.

And yet—familiar practical and psychological barriers remain: Will AI replace my job? Can I really trust the output? What if the investment doesn’t pay off? These are not new questions. They are the same doubts I heard in the lab decades ago about NIR machines and ATP testing.

Technology adoption has always required courage, validation, and a mindset of “trust but verify.”

The global food system cannot afford hesitation. Climate shocks, shifting consumer behaviors, and supply chain volatility demand that we move faster, smarter, and more collaboratively. That means putting the best tools—CRISPR, AI, automation, and whatever comes next—into the hands of scientists, developers, and operators across our system.

My call to you, as peers and colleagues, is this: Engage with these tools. Test them, question them, improve them. But don’t stand on the sidelines. The future of food depends on our willingness to lead with science, apply innovation with responsibility, and share what we learn for the benefit of all.ft