US flavour company, DD Williamson, recently researched the impact of colour on flavour perception - and the findings yet again confirm that the eyes play a major role in taste.

Germany's Hydrosol, specialist in hydrocolloid stabilising systems, has succeeded in developing combinations of active ingredients to produce yoghurt shakes from reconstituted milk – a great advantage, especially in hot countries where fresh milk is scarce.

The world's biggest ever study of allergies - spearheaded by the University of Manchester - got underway officially earlier this month. The €9-million project builds on an earlier €14.3-million research study and will involve the worlds leading experts in the UK, Europe, Australia and US. Together they mark the biggest study of food allergy in the world. A key outcome will be a standardised management process for companies involved in food manufacturing.

The poultry and meat industries are always looking for new and innovative advances in science and technology in battling salmonella — and an American biotech company has come up with a new spray-on solution that has just been confirmed GRAS by the US FDA.

In what could be a major change in the method that companies use to extract the sweet steviol glycosides in the stevia plant, US-based Cargill and the Swiss company, Evolva, have agreed to join together to develop fermentation-derived steviol glycosides, which will enable the production of better tasting and less expensive stevia products. Stevia is the fastest growing natural zero-calorie sugar substitute on the market.

Are people exposed to doses of bisphenol A in their canned foods and other consumer products that can harm them? Or are the amounts too low to cause any harm? Scientists continue to disagree.

To keep a growing world population filled with nutrients, startups like Beyond Eggs are finding new ways of making protein that don’t involve the resource intensity of raising animals. Here comes the Protein Economy.

A new report into the food colours market combining market expertise from Mintel and Leatherhead Food Research reveals that, for the first time in 2011, the value of natural colours has overtaken that of artificial/synthetic colours globally.