r/foodscience

I've been hearing about companies like Mondelez increasingly using lab-grown cocoa from companies like Israeli start-up Celleste Bio. Already just hearing "Mondelez" and "Israeli" makes me want to boycott but I want to understand:

1. Firstly, what the hell even is lab-grown cocoa - how is it made?
2. Is it better or worse for your health? When I started trying to learn about it, I saw lots of people talking about how normal chocolate has traces of heavy metals in them... Surely whole foods from nature would always be better than things grown in labs, no?
3. Will this help or hurt cocoa farmers? I understand that there are a lot of questionable ethical practices when it comes to the production of chocolate, so people try to get fair trade products to avoid support exploitative companies. Opting to buy lab-grown would probably make cocoa farmers lose business, but might also reduce pressure on them to produce so much and consequently might lessen exploitative measures. So will it help or hurt?

I need a copacker in the US who can heat treat a powder that contains a big 9 allergen, preferably also able to pack the powder into super sacks or bags after cooling. Any suggestions?

I am making a presentation to hopefully be able to have a food day at university and want to incorporate some chemistry. I currently know of 2 colour changing reactions when cooking a certain why that being the classic red cabbage and a cake recipe from my mother where Coffee makes the topping turn green around it. Are there more such reactions, preferably to get a dish together with some sort of pictured documentation.

Thanks in advance

I have an extra burger ( whopper cheese ) that I really want to eat tonight. But what is the best way to get reheat it ?

I’ve done both and can’t decide what’s better.

I loved the start-up I worked at because of the people and the mission. It was a lot of fun. I got worked like a dog though, spending late nights and being asked to come on weekends. Going way above and beyond.

I love the big company I’m at now because I get a work life balance. I can leave at 4-5pm and never have to think about work again. My role definitely feels less technical thought and a bit boring at times. Everything I’m learning is more in the soft skills (giving presentations, process management workflows, working with teams and dealing with personalities).

Eggshell powder is composed of approximately 95% calcium carbonate. One single eggshell contains about 2,000 mg of calcium, so it is very rich in calcium. But it comes with some danger.

Eggshell powder can carry Salmonella, so to make it safe, you need to properly clean it. Before grinding the eggshells into powder, boil them for 15 minutes, then bake them for another 15 minutes, and after that grind them. This will clean them from anything harmful.

Another concern is Kidney stones. Most kidney stones are calcium oxalate. The danger is taking too much at once. Our body can only absorb about 500 mg of calcium at a time. If you take a whole tablespoon of powder, the extra calcium ends up in your urine, which can lead to stones. So, 1/4 teaspoon is a good and safe amount.

If you add acetic acid, like apple cider vinegar, it can be even better because of this reaction:
Acetic acid + calcium carbonate = calcium acetate + water + CO₂ (the bubbles).

More is not better in this recipe at all !!

Recipe:

• 1/4 teaspoon eggshell powder
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• Wait for the bubbles to finish (if you drink it before that, it may cause burping and stomach discomfort)
• 1 cup of water
• the juice of half a lemon

Drink it all at once, then rinse your mouth with water to wash any vinegar from your teeth.

Tell me your opinions.

Hello. I am not a food scientist, but a brew master, and am looking to explore herbs and spices as used in cooking. I know plenty about hops, and how to achieve the desired bitterness/flavor/aromoa, and I want to extend that to herbs and spices in the kitchen. Example: when I make tomato sauce for pasta, I have 4 additions of black pepper. One when I sauté the onions and other vegetables, one when I add the herbs, one halfway through simmering and one at the end. Each addition adds to the complexity, and I notice if I forget one. But what is happening behind the scene? I know it is the cooking off of volitiles, and maybe the change of certain compounds. But what is going on? If I make a beer and want a firm hop note on the aroma, I know I need about 100 ml of oil per hectoliter of wort, added in the last 5-0 minutes in the boil. Is there any good literature on the function of herbs and spices and their flavor impact? Like why does raw cinnamon taste horrendous but you toss a stick in at the beginning and it is beautiful. And a lot of times I use spices that you cannot decern in the final dish, but without them the flavor is flat, one-dimensional. And I know, you could probably do a PhD on the flavor development of caraway toasted vs. untoasted in certain dishes. But a bit more insight would be great.

I understand this is probably dumb but I was wondering if there's a way to make safe sashimi in a commercial freezer. The FDA says to Freeze Fish below -20C for over 7 days, but most commercial freezers go from -18 to -23C. Salted Ice reaches -20C, So could I use that or another substitute to eek out those 2 degrees? I understand I could probably risk farm raised fish at home, but I was just curious.

Hey all!

we’re getting consistent 87k CFU/g coliform hits on a new cheesecake mousse product and I can’t pin down the source. Pre-op and post-op swabs are coming back clean, which makes this even more frustrating to diagnose.

Production finishes around 9AM, product goes straight to the cooler, but samples don’t hit the lab for plating until around 6PM.

Does this level point more toward a point-source issue (raw materials, equipment biofilm) or time-temp abuse during the cooling window? For anyone with mousse or aerated product experience, are there hidden spots in the equipment (valves, gaskets, air lines) that have caught you off guard before?

Any insights appreciated 🙏

how can i make or find someone to make an electrolyte powder similar to tru labs but without citric acid / but still sweetened with monk fruit

i can obviously mix vitamin powders together and leave out acid, but how can I sweeten it and keep it long term

I am scaling up my tofu production and okara processes, and I'm looking for a task-appropriate sanitizing solution. I'm spoiled on using Star San for fermented, low pH applications. I was hoping there was something equivalent for neutral pH applications. I don't want parts of my soy milk solution coagulating at inappropriate points in the process, even with a very limited application of a sanitizer.

My checklist:

• Rinse-free application. I wash things religiously, but I want to sanitize as a last step before any food is added;
• Imparts no off-flavor;
• Neutral pH;
• Plays nicely with stainless steel and UHMWPE;
• (Bonus Points) "Chemical-free". Ooof, that phrase hurts my chemistry PhD to type. Many of my customers are health food types, and they get nervous when they see me sanitizing kombucha bottles. Thankfully, I can explain away Star San since yeast consume the diluted phosphoric acid. If someone sees how the proverbial and literal sausage is made, I would love to have an explanation ready for how it is extra safe.

I have done my googling, and I have found potential matches (N601+, Zep Sanitizer, Sanitol, and others). However, I don't have the benefit of experience. I would love for someone with some more experience to point me in a direction.

Can you cold fill an organic cola that sits at 3.0 ph ? It’s using a mix of citric and malic for acid. 15g of cane sugar. Stevia. And a mixture of natural flavors. With a small amount of co2 extracted extracts ( vanilla cardamom nutmeg cinnamon etc )

? Is there a way to get around having to use a heat treatment process ? And just cold fill it ?

If we add any acidic thing in milk it sort of curdles

People generally advise not to consume it as it is or make cottage cheese (panneer) with it

Our stomach contains acids stronger than lemon's citric acid so milk just curdles in stomach

So is it safe to consume it and people just avoid it due to its smell or there is something that causes problems consuming it

Thank you

Hello there.

I don't really know the geography of the users here but I felt I'd talk about this here. I have a food technology degree. Where I live, almost every position I see in the market is about quality control.

I barely see offers about laboratory work or research or R&D. Not to mention none of the positions are entry level, they won't hire you if you don't have the experience they demand, so for me it's been difficult to find a real entry-level position in any area anyways.

For some reason I dread quality control work but at the same time I don't really see any other path I could take here. I got a masters in R&D in Europe, and while I was there, I could see plenty of opportunities (on many different areas), but I had to come back so I didn't even try applying.

I can't stop feeling like the path I've chosen it's been useless. I really liked the career I chose but I really don't know what to do.

In 2026 we’re seeing real progress in areas like lab-grown meat scaling up, sodium-ion batteries becoming commercially viable, and advanced bioprinting for organs.

For me, the sleeper hit is how sodium-ion batteries could finally make cheap, abundant energy storage possible without relying on lithium — potentially transforming renewable grids, electric vehicles in developing countries, and even home energy independence by 2030. It feels like it could democratize clean energy in ways lithium never could, but most headlines still focus on older tech.

At the same time, lab-grown meat is moving from lab to supermarket shelves faster than expected, which could cut emissions from agriculture dramatically… or disrupt entire economies.

What’s the one non-AI breakthrough you believe is flying under the radar right now but will hit society hardest in the next few years? Longevity tech, energy, food systems, or something else?