In this “Best of 2025” episode of Omnivore, Food Technology revisits the top food science and thought leader interviews of the year. The AI era is unquestionably here, and it’s advancing at lightning speed. In this episode, AI “futurist” and IFT FIRST keynote speaker Steve Brown discusses the unprecedented opportunities that AI offers, its benefits … Continue reading EP 74: Riding the AI Wave, Legacy Brands Product Innovation, MAHA at IFT FIRST →
In this “Best of 2025” episode of Omnivore Presents: SciDish, Food Technology revisits the top food science and thought leader interviews of the year. In 2025, the industry experienced a sharp uptick in food recalls—affecting everything from leafy greens to frozen meals. And it was not just one culprit—Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli, and even viruses … Continue reading Best of SciDish 2025: Food Safety 2025: Insights on Recalls, Risks, and Resilience →
In this “Best of 2025” episode of Omnivore, Food Technology revisits the top food science and thought leader interviews of the year. June Jo Lee explains how food ethnography works and how it can help food companies anticipate the kinds of culture shifts that will shape the marketplace in the years ahead. We chat with … Continue reading EP 73: Decoding Consumers’ Food Behaviors, African Food Trend Heats Up, A Food Scientist Processes Nova and UPFs | BEST OF 2025 →
What happens when every menu and grocery aisle starts to look the same? Menu Matters’ Maeve Webster and Mike Kostyo discuss the push for simplicity, the pitfalls of trend chasing, and where real innovation will come from next. Blake Harris, managing director of IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center, talks about how the new Traceability Driver … Continue reading EP 72: Trend Talk with Maeve and Mike: Breaking the Trend Cycle, Inside IFT’s New Open-Source Traceability Driver →
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Rohit Karnik, Director of Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS) at MIT—a pioneering research hub that tackles global challenges in water and food systems, and since 2014, has invested more than $25 million in transformative solutions that address food security, water scarcity, and climate resilience. … Continue reading Omnivore Presents: SciDish | Hot Takes on Cool Tech Innovations for Food Security | NOV 2025 →
Consumer insights guru Liz Sloan unpacks the latest consumer demographic trends and how they will shape food and beverage market opportunities. Tom Adams, CEO of Pairwise, discusses the potential of the gene-editing technology CRISPR to advance agriculture and deliver better-tasting fruits and vegetables. Plus: This episode of Omnivore is brought to you by CoDeveloper, from IFT. CoDeveloper is the first AI-powered co-scientist built BY food scientists FOR food scientists, … Continue reading EP 71: Understanding the New Mainstream Consumer, Gene Editing Tomorrow’s Crops →
Flavor trend expert Melanie Zanoza Bartelme of Mintel shares how social media, Gen Z curiosity, and a craving for comfort are redefining the tastes of 2026 and beyond. Food scientist Abbey Thiel breaks down the concept of biodiversity, drilling into why it matters in terms of sustainability, nutrition, and food security. Plus: This episode of … Continue reading EP 70: Flavor Trends for 2026 and Beyond, Why Biodiversity Matters →
Scientific misinformation has become a defining challenge of our time—fueling consumer confusion, eroding public trust, and influencing policy in ways that can undermine health outcomes and industry credibility. From nutrition myths and food additive fearmongering to unscientific claims from influential voices, food professionals now face an imperative to engage with science denial—not just ignore it. … Continue reading Omnivore Presents: SciDish | Myth Busting Misinformation: How to Counter Science Denial | OCT 2025 →
Purdue University’s Richard Mattes chats with consulting nutrition scientist Lisa Sanders about the concept of hyper-palatability—foods designed with specific combinations of fat, sugar, and salt that may override natural satiety signals—and discuss what makes a food hyperpalatable, how researchers identify and test for it, and whether evidence exists linking hyperpalatable foods to increased consumption and … Continue reading EP 69: UPFs and the Queston of Hyper-Palatability, Revisiting Reusable Packaging →
Entrepreneur Tony Martens shares the story of IFT 2025 pitch competition winner Plantible Foods—from the early rough days living on-site in a trailer to the company’s recent success commercializing its plant-based protein ingredient. Food Technology’s editors talk about the hot topics and trends they discovered at IFT FIRST 2025. Plus: This episode of Omnivore is … Continue reading EP 68: How Plantible Foods Is Unlocking the Power of Plants, IFT FIRST 2025 Trendspotting →
In this episode, we bring together three food and nutrition experts to talk about the latest science behind foods and ingredients that pack a nutritional punch while tasting great. Dr. Kirstie Canene-Adams, director of Ingredion’s Nutrition Center, Global Scientific and Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Lisa Sanders, owner and principal scientist at Cornerstone Nutrition, LLC and consulting … Continue reading Omnivore Presents: SciDish | Delivering Nutrition in Every Bite: The Science of Healthier, Tastier Foods | SEPT 2025 →
In a special segment, recorded at the Hot Topics Studio stage at IFT FIRST 2025, we’re listening in as The Rockefeller Foundation’s Dana Thomas talks with IFT’s Anna Rosales about scaling up food as medicine programs into sustainable models that can reach millions of people. Michiel Bakker, president of the Culinary Institute of America and … Continue reading EP 67: Scaling Food As Medicine, Redesigning the Way We Eat →
Food industry experts Darryl Riley and Arlin Wasserman share their insights and expert tips on how to create and build resilient and adaptive supply chains to help overcome the operational and economic challenges of today’s volatile business environment. Futurist Tony Hunter forecasts the transformative potential for generative AI to supercharge food product development. Plus: This … Continue reading EP 66: Navigating Supply Chain Volatility, How AI is Supercharging Food Product Development →
Researchers are under increasing pressure to “publish or perish” in the academic ecosystem, which leads some to employ unethical practices to increase their publication metrics. With so many scandals rocking the research world—mass retractions, paper mills, falsified data, misuse of AI—how do IFT’s journal editors ensure the integrity of the research they publish? IFT’s journals … Continue reading Omnivore Presents: SciDish | Research Integrity in Scholarly Publishing | AUG 2025 →
Bianca Lê, a cell biologist and head of special projects at Mission Barns, shares the story of the groundbreaking startup’s path to the creation of cell-cultivated pork fat. Martin Hahn, a regulatory attorney and partner at Hogan Lovells, and Maha Tahiri, CEO of Nutrition Sustainability Strategies, explore how the MAHA agenda could reshape formulation, labeling, … Continue reading EP 65: Talking With a Cultivated Meat Innovator, MAHA at IFT FIRST →
EIT Food’s Adam Adamek shares why open innovation is essential to solving food system challenges—and how startups, corporates, and researchers can collaborate more effectively to turn breakthrough science into real-world impact. June Jo Lee explains how food ethnography works and how it can help food companies anticipate the kinds of culture shifts that will shape … Continue reading EP 64: Open Innovation for Food System Transformation, Decoding Consumers’ Food Behaviors →
Consumers haven’t soured on the low- and no-sugar trend. Food and ingredient manufacturers are heeding the call, looking to reformulate or develop reduced and zero-sugar product lines at a record pace. In this episode, Renee Leber and Lisa Sanders provide scientific insights, practical formulation techniques, and marketing strategies designed to equip attendees with actionable knowledge … Continue reading Omnivore Presents: SciDish | JULY 2025: The Scientific Skinny on Sugar Reduction →
Behavioral science researcher Dave Lundahl proposes a solution to the problem of food product hyper-palatability, which is believed to be a significant contributor to the obesity crisis. In the wake of the recent high-profile Make America Healthy Again report calling for bans on dozens of food ingredients, Anna Rosales, IFT’s senior director of government affairs … Continue reading EP 63: Have We Made Food Too Tasty?, Exploring the MAHA Report →
Food safety experts Jennifer McEntire and Tejas Bhatt discuss the FDA’s traceability rule delay, what’s still holding the industry back, and why companies need to act now—not wait. Passionate about reducing food waste, a Texas A&M University graduate student is working to apply a novel technology to help safely improve post-harvest wheat treatment. Plus: This … Continue reading EP 62: Time to Act on Traceability, Novel Technology Could Improve Wheat Processing →
In just the past several months, we’ve seen a sharp uptick in food recalls—affecting everything from leafy greens to frozen meals. And it’s not just one culprit—Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli, and even viruses like norovirus and parasites like cyclospora are in the headlines. Is this a coincidence, or are we facing a deeper shift in … Continue reading Omnivore Presents: SciDish | June 2025: Food Safety 2025: Insights on Recalls, Risks, and Resilience →