Consumers stand to benefit from scientists' continual revelations of the mechanisms behind sweet taste perception.           

Sensory qualities of texture and flavor deliver product attributes that define this often indefinable trait. Research on the perception of creaminess is explored, along with ingredients used to achieve this sensation.

Preventing moisture loss in foods is one key to their longevity. Gums, starches, emulsifiers and proteins assist with texture in ways where the mechanism is not always commonly understood.

One stroll around IFT’s Food Expo last June is all the evidence that anyone associated with the food industry might need as proof that demand for organic food is on the rise. Just in case IFT was not convincing enough, along comes Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, vowing to become a major supplier of organic products. Flavor suppliers who forged into the organic market as early pioneers have made great strides in their efforts to develop and manufacture organic products, but suppliers may need to redouble their efforts as demand increases, regulations change and competition grows.

It is not uncommon to find carrageenan used as a stabilizer or thickener in many foods. Yet any ingredient statement that lists this hydrocolloid disguises the fact that it may be one variation among a large family of polysaccharides derived from red algae.