A Scientific Investigation — When you major in Food Science you’re confronted with course work about every single foodborne illness and bad bacteria. You memorize which disease gives people explosive diarrhea and which simply gives regular diarrhea. I’m not joking, there was a distinction. The least enjoyable part was spending two lecture hours watching…

What are these crystals and why are they in cheese? — There was a time in my life when I had seven roommates (crazy, I know). All ladies. Don’t worry, we’re still all friends We rented this old, three-story house on our college campus. One day I came home from class and my friend Missy was angrily stomping around our kitchen. …

Even writing that was painful as a Wisconsinite Just last week my research team hosted a cheese tasting event. Yes, when you’re a food scientist, eating cheese is “work.” I was pumped and couldn’t wait to try EVERY cheese. To my surprise, I was in the minority. …

Dutchies take pancakes to a whole new level! — The first time I visited a pannenkoeken huis (pancake house) in The Netherlands, I was surprised by the food I saw on the table. There was little resemblance to the tall stacks of fluffy flapjacks that I grew up with in the U.S. Instead, Dutch pancakes are thin and dense…

And how to get that perfectly golden-brown color too! — The funny thing about leaving home is you learn that everything you think is normal, is only normal where you’re from. The first time I went to a pancake house (pannenkoeken huis) in The Netherlands, I received a flapjack that was exceptionally flat, oval-shaped and spilled over the edges of…

Why does this popular Valentine’s Day candy have such an unpleasant texture? — Every February, we seem to forget what past experience has taught us and toss a couple of those tiny message hearts into our mouths. Disappointment quickly sets in. The texture is repulsive. Do the colors correspond to flavors? …

Scientists have just discovered that ants secrete a nutritious, milk-like fluid — I’ve been living as an expat in The Netherlands for about a year-and-a-half and have been astonished by how popular plant-based milks are over here—even more than in the U.S. It’s normal for a cafe (coffee shop has a different meaning here) to have 4–5 alternative milks for you to…

How scientists are transforming plastic waste into food-safe ingredients I don’t think I need to explain to you that we have a plastic problem. But, if you’re a numbers person, every year we produce 359 million tons of plastic with 150–200 million of those tons ending up in landfills. …

Solving the banana family tree might just save the fruit — Have you ever noticed that banana-flavored candy never tastes like the bananas you buy at the grocery store? This isn’t due to bad flavoring or terrible product development. No. The truth is that most banana candy was based on a different banana species — the Gros Michel — which is…