Episode 28: Spicing Up the Future of Food

With more and more people focusing on their health these days, it’s no surprise that consumers are looking to spice up their culinary selections. But long before they became a part of our creative recipes, herbs and spices have had a long history of being celebrated for their medicinal properties, well before culinary use! Modern science has now shown that many of them carry remarkable health benefits offering great opportunities for new product development and innovation.

In this episode we’ll explore and expand on findings shared in the recent IFT Food Technology magazine article entitled, “Spicy Nutrition.” In this podcast we’ll focus on some of nature’s herbs, spices and the extracts that offer potential health benefits. We'll also talk with the article's author, Linda Ohr, about what the research tells us, as well as some entrepreneurial companies who have tapped these spices' hidden potential for their current and future product innovation.

Participants

Linda Ohr, contributing editor of IFT’s Food Technology magazine
Since 2002, Linda has written the Nutraceuticals column, covering nutritional ingredients and health and wellness trends. Prior to this, she was a technical editor with Prepared Foods magazine, covering ingredient technology, nutraceuticals, product development, and new products.

Emily Griffith, founder of Lil Bucks snacks
Chicago-native, Emily Griffith, was living her best life surfing and working a marketing job in Sydney, Australia, when she came across her new favorite superfood, sprouted buckwheat. Blown away by the texture and next-level nutrition of sprouted buckwheat on top of an acai bowl, Emily became obsessed with this sustainable superfood, and is on a mission to share the love of buckwheat with crunch-lovin’, health-conscious Americans!

Amy Rothstein, founder of DONA

Host:

Matt Teegarden, PhD is a food chemist and science communicator, with experience in both industry and academia. Matt is currently the Senior Researcher in the Foods for Health initiative at Ohio State, where he is largely responsible for the development and advancement of scientific operations and communications. Outside of work and IFT involvement, Matt enjoys baking and participating in LGBTQ+ recreational sports leagues around Columbus.