By Brandon Taylor, Chief Revenue Officer

INNOVATION

Food Companies Apply Trends Across Product Sectors

Food product developers are applying trends across new product development categories. According to Food Ingredients First, applicable trends include:

Adding functional health ingredients versus reduction of negative attributes
Plant-based ingredients that maximize flavor
Sustainable sourcing, especially use of upcycling

“Personalized nutrition also continues to be top of mind, with the gut microbiome being a key element to developing tailored solutions,” Brad Schwan, vice president of marketing at ADM.

Source: Food Ingredients First

FOOD SAFETY

UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization Releases Report on Safety Implications from Environmental Inhibitors

Environmental inhibitors are used to improve the production efficiency of crops and livestock while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane or limiting the loss of nitrogen from cultivated fields and pastures. However, the inadvertent presence of environmental inhibitors in food commodities can raise health concerns as well as trade disruption if standards are not established.

The publication provides an overview of various synthetic and biological environmental inhibitors along with an analysis of possible food safety implications from their use.

Source: FAO

Top Food Safety Technical Innovations of 2023

From packaging that provides alerts to pathogenic bacteria to a thermal biosensor for real-time detection of E. coli, Food Safety Magazine summarizes top food safety innovation from 2023.

Source: Food Safety Magazine

SUSTAINABILITY

Recap and Perspectives from COP28

The outcome of COP28 included 160 nations signing a declaration to include food and agriculture in their climate plans by COP30, in two years. Some activists were disappointed that food system transformation in final text referenced adaptation and not mitigation. However, big companies announced major initiatives to address agricultural methane emissions and expand the use of regenerative agriculture.

Source: Reuters