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Emerging Technology
New technologies are reshaping how food is developed, produced, and distributed. IFT coverage analyzes scientific and technological advances—from digital tools to novel production methods—through a practical lens, focusing on readiness, real-world application, and implications for food science professionals and the broader food system.
Digital and Data
Digital tools are reshaping how food is designed, produced, and managed. IFT coverage examines data analytics, artificial intelligence, modeling, and decision-support systems that improve insight, coordination, and performance across the food system.
Dec 15, 2025
Riding the AI Wave
In this episode, AI “futurist” Steve Brown discusses the unprecedented opportunities that AI offers, its benefits for the global food system, and why it’s important to embrace its new technologies with a mindset of curiosity instead of fear.
Omnivore Podcast
Dec 15, 2025
What’s on the Menu for 2026?
From tech-enhanced food safety to AI’s food innovation takeover, the IFT Science and Policy Initiatives team forecast the top five trends that will help shape the global food system in 2026 and beyond.
Brain Food Blog
Aug 05, 2025
Artificial Intelligence Tools Get Smarter
AI tools are helping food and beverage companies streamline R&D by predicting flavor and texture outcomes, identifying ingredient substitutions, and analyzing consumer data to move from concept to formulation faster.
Food Technology Magazine
Aug 01, 2025
How Gen AI Will Accelerate Food Industry Innovation
Food futurist Tony Hunter explores how generative AI could reshape product development—rapidly optimizing formulations across thousands of ingredients and variables, from flavor and nutrition to cost and supply chain constraints.
Food Technology Magazine
Oct 22, 2024
From Food Industry 4.0 to Food Industry 5.0
A review explores how AI, digital twins, IoT sensors, and robotics are advancing food manufacturing and enabling more human-centered, sustainable Food Industry 5.0 systems.
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
Dec 20, 2023
Leveraging AI on the Road to Net Zero
Food companies are applying artificial intelligence to improve manufacturing efficiency, optimize inventory and demand forecasting, and reduce waste across the supply chain—helping advance sustainability goals while improving operational performance.
Food Technology Magazine
Biotechnology and Cellular Systems
Advances in biotechnology are opening new pathways for producing food and ingredients. IFT coverage examines fermentation, cellular agriculture, and other biological systems that enable novel production methods and functional outcomes.
Jan 12, 2026
Cocoa, Reengineered
Tilo Hühn, professor at the ZHAW School of Life Sciences and Facility Management in Switzerland, is working on a process to create a cell-cultured alternative to conventionally produced cocoa.
Food Technology Magazine
Oct 14, 2025
Lessons From Pairwise’s CRISPR Launch
CEO Tom Adams shares three lessons learned from bringing CRISPR-edited produce to market and how partnerships are helping scale its impact.
Brain Food Blog
Oct 14, 2025
Biotechnology Advances Marine Fermented Foods
A review examines how biotechnology tools—including microbial fermentation, enzyme engineering, and omics approaches—are advancing the quality, safety, and scalability of marine-derived fermented foods.
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
Oct 07, 2025
Decoding Novel Food Labeling Challenges
Steven Gendel examines how regulators and industry are navigating labeling questions for emerging products such as cell-cultured foods, plant-based alternatives, and precision fermentation ingredients as federal guidance and state laws continue to evolve.
Food Technology Magazine
Mar 07, 2025
Precision Fermentation Transforms Ingredients
This article explores how precision fermentation uses engineered microorganisms to produce specific food molecules—enabling scalable production of ingredients such as animal-free dairy proteins, flavor compounds, and sweeteners while improving sustainability and efficiency.
Food Technology Magazine
Mar 03, 2025
Precision Fermentation Takes Off
Process engineer Shalima Sreenath, whose previous work with Beyond Meat focused on scaling up transformative alt-meat technologies, shares the exciting new possibilities of precision fermentation technology in the food and ag space.
Omnivore Podcast
Novel Processing Technologies
New processing approaches are expanding what is possible in food manufacturing. IFT coverage explores emerging thermal and nonthermal technologies that influence safety, quality, sustainability, and product differentiation.
Feb 26, 2026
Light-Based Technologies Advance Food Safety
A review examines ultraviolet light, pulsed light, and blue light systems that can inactivate pathogens on foods, surfaces, and packaging while preserving product quality.
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
Jun 04, 2025
Cold Plasma Advances Flour Processing
Research from Texas A&M University finds that atmospheric cold plasma can improve dough strength, elasticity, and cake performance in wheat flour—potentially offering a safer, clean-label alternative to chlorination.
Food Technology Magazine
May 06, 2025
Cornell Food Solution Is Easy to Swallow
Researchers in Cornell University’s Rizvi Lab are developing new processing approaches—from supercritical fluid extrusion to cryogenic freezing—to create foods that improve nutrition, reduce waste, and expand access to products like dysphagia-friendly snacks.
Food Technology Magazine
Dec 30, 2024
Food Safety Tech Game-Changers
Process authority Larry Keener talks about three game-changing food safety technologies—UV and other light-based systems, atmospheric cold plasma, and hydroxyl radicals—and how they are helping the food industry beat back foodborne pathogens.
Omnivore Podcast
Nov 20, 2024
High-Intensity Ultrasound Advances Food Processing
Food engineer Hao Feng explains how ultrasonic processing can improve drying, extraction, emulsification, and pathogen control while reducing energy use and preserving product quality.
Brain Food Blog
Nov 06, 2024
Three Technologies Changing Food Safety in Processing
Light-based systems, atmospheric cold plasma, and hydroxyl radicals are emerging nonthermal tools that can disinfect surfaces, water, air, and foods—offering new ways to control pathogens in processing environments.
Food Technology Magazine
Automation and Robotics
Automation and robotics are transforming how food manufacturing systems operate. IFT coverage examines how artificial intelligence, digital twins, Internet of Things sensors, and robotics are advancing automation and enabling more adaptive, efficient, and resilient production systems.
Aug 08, 2025
How Digitalization Impacts Sustainability
IoT sensors, ERP platforms, and digital twins are enabling food companies to integrate data across operations, supporting better decision-making and measurable sustainability improvements.
Food Technology Magazine
Aug 08, 2025
Moving Beyond Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 tools—including IoT sensors, AI, machine vision, and blockchain—are enabling real-time monitoring, predictive analytics, and automated quality management across complex food supply chains.
Food Technology Magazine
Mar 21, 2025
How Digital Transformation Enhances Food Safety
Technologies such as IoT sensors, blockchain traceability, predictive analytics, and advanced imaging are helping food companies monitor risks, automate sanitation and maintenance, and improve compliance across complex supply chains.
Food Technology Magazine
Oct 22, 2024
From Food Industry 4.0 to Food Industry 5.0
A review examines how technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital twins, IoT sensors, and robotics are advancing food manufacturing and enabling a shift toward more human-centered, sustainable Food Industry 5.0 systems.
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
Aug 12, 2024
The Potential of Generative AI
Amazon’s Justin Honaman discusses the potential impact of generative AI, the challenges in adoption, and use cases for the industry.
Omnivore Podcast
Dec 20, 2023
Leveraging AI on the Road to Net Zero
Food companies are applying artificial intelligence to improve manufacturing efficiency, optimize inventory and demand forecasting, and reduce waste across the supply chain—helping advance sustainability goals while improving operational performance.
Food Technology Magazine
Sensing, Monitoring, and Traceability
Technologies that detect, monitor, and communicate conditions are transforming oversight and transparency. IFT coverage examines sensors, smart systems, and digital traceability tools that support safety, quality, and supply chain visibility.
Jan 28, 2026
Nutrition Gets Personal
Genetics, multi-omics tools, wearables, and AI are advancing precision nutrition and predicting individual dietary responses.
Food Technology Magazine
Dec 17, 2025
Visual LAMP Speeds Seafood Fraud Detection
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is emerging as a promising approach for seafood authentication due to the rapid turnaround and simplified isothermal operational conditions.
Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety
Sep 19, 2025
Open-Source Driver Speeds Traceability
A case study from IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center shows how an open-source Traceability Driver helped Koltiva align data with global standards and achieve GDST capability faster while improving interoperability across supply chains.
GFTC Case Study
Sep 16, 2024
Frank Yiannas on Traceability
The former Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at FDA offers his assessment of the Food Traceability Enhancement Act, which would delay or even gut the Food Traceability Rule.
Omnivore Podcast
Jul 24, 2024
What’s in Your Traceability Tech Stack?
Companies in the food value chain are finding an array of tech-enabled solutions to boost their traceability programs. But how to choose which solutions are right for your operation? Here’s what the experts advise.
Food Technology Magazine
Jun 12, 2024
Portable Sensing Technologies for Food Safety
A review explores carbon-dot–based sensors that enable portable, real-time detection of contaminants, nutrients, and pathogens, advancing food safety monitoring and on-site analysis.
Journal of Food Science
Packaging
Packaging technologies play an increasingly active role in protecting food and extending shelf life. IFT coverage examines active and intelligent packaging approaches that interact with products or provide information to support quality, safety, and distribution performance.
Feb 06, 2026
Marine Polysaccharides for Smart Food Packaging
With the intensification of the global plastic pollution crisis and the escalation of consumers’ concern for food safety, marine polysaccharide-based intelligent food packaging (MPIFP) materials have become a research hotspot.
Comprehensive Reviews of Food Science and Food Safety
Oct 13, 2025
The Case for Reusable Packaging
Why reuse is worth reconsidering as the industry struggles to keep pace with the demand for more sustainable packaging.
Omnivore Podcast
Oct 07, 2025
Reusable Packaging: Pack, Return, Repeat
Detailing the role of reusable packaging in relation to “reduce, reuse, and recycle,” describe how regulations encourage the use of reusable packaging, and define challenges associated with consumer-facing reusable packaging
Food Technology Magazine
Jun 06, 2025
Smart Packaging for Shelf Life and Safety
Active packaging extends food shelf life using technology beyond traditional packaging barrier technology. Intelligent packaging communicates by acquiring, storing, processing, and sharing information across the entire value chain.
Food Technology Magazine
Mar 31, 2025
Upcycling: The Future is Now
How the transformation of food waste into high-value ingredients, or upcycling, is made possible by advances in processing technologies, utilization of novel waste streams, and new research findings.
Food Technology Magazine
Feb 07, 2025
Top 7 Food Packaging Innovations
Seven packaging innovations—four associated with format and design achievements and three material science discoveries—that have risen to the top in the past half century in terms of positive impact on the food system and consumers worldwide.
Food Technology Magazine
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