Essential oils have boomed in popularity as more people seek out alternatives to replace their synthetic cleaning products, anti-mosquito sprays and medicines. Now scientists are tapping them as candidates to preserve food in a more consumer-friendly way. 

A University of Florida research team is cautiously optimistic after finding a possible treatment in the lab for citrus greening, a disease devastating Florida’s $9 billion citrus industry. It is the first step in a years-long process to bring a treatment to market.

Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute are developing a micro gas chromatograph for early detection of diseases in crops. 

It’s that time of the year again when people are moving their kitchens outside in order to soak up the warm weather and smoky aromas of grilling. Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) spokesperson Guy Crosby, PhD, CFS provides insight into the food science behind BBQ. Crosby addresses how a marinade works to keep your meat tender, how smoking infuses new flavors into meat, searing, and more.

Research from Kansas State University in Olathe has shown that four out of 10 spices, sold in bulk in the Kansas City metro area, contain contaminants that could be harmful to your health.

Consumers may have more palatable low-fat products and milk producers a solution to an industrywide problem through use of a unique strain of lactic acid bacteria, according to Ashraf Hassan, associate professor of dairy science at South Dakota State University.

It’s an unlikely beer-drinking toast: “Here’s to L-T-P-One!” Yet, the secret to optimal foam in the head of a freshly poured brew, according to Cornell University food science research, is just the right amount and kind of barley lipid transfer protein No. 1, aka LTP1.

These days, more and more people seem to have food allergies, which can sometimes have life-threatening consequences.

Coffee drinkers, rejoice! Aside from java’s energy jolt, food scientists say you may reap another health benefit from a daily cup of joe: prevention of deteriorating eyesight and possible blindness from retinal degeneration due to glaucoma, aging and diabetes.

MIT alumnus Mohammed Abdul Latif Jameel gives major donation to establish the lab, to be lead by Professor John Lienhard.