Latest Food Products :February Issue

2012 seems to be on fire for the latest introduction of food products, here is a list I collected of the top news of the Food and Beverage Industry , lead by the most renowned  world brands : Nestle, Pepsico, Kellog's, Mars.....etc
This is getting exciting. I hope more products will be launched, atleast I would love to venture trying them!
Which product do you like from below ?
And  do you think they will succeed?

1. "The Magic of Italian Cappuccino" Nestle's Research and developement team introduced this foam booster for all coffee lovers who would like their coffee to be somehow similar to the coffee they order at Coffee Shops:

 Nestle says that  "Foam Booster granules are tiny particles of carbohydrates and proteins that are full of minute holes. The holes are filled at high pressure with nitrogen gas – which is the main component of air. Nitrogen is trapped in the Foam Booster at about 35 times atmospheric pressure – 15 to 20 times the pressure in car tyres. The nitrogen is not released until it comes in to contact with hot water, lifting the creamer to the surface to form an instant milky foam. The coffee stays below to form the brown base. The result? A perfect cappuccino".

2.  " 7up Ten Just for Men" : Launching of 7Up-10!

The 10-calorie soft drink generated quite a bit of Internet buzz with a USA ad campaign that proclaims it is simply "not for women."

3. " Music's Halo Effect on Icecream!" : Mars has outlined a music-based experiential marketing strategy to revitalise its ice cream brands in a bid to re-connect with consumers, after a period of reduced marketing activity

What Food Scientists do

Kashkaval Cheese Production in AREC

"Cheese - milk's leap toward immortality" Clifton Paul Fadiman

I have been always fascinated by cheese. Its hundred varieties, hundred of flavors and odors...Its texture , the way it melts , the way it squeezes between our teeth. 

And I always thought what had occurred to our ancestor's mind to get the rennet from the stomach of the calves and put in milk to do cheese. It was a Magical moment.

And truly as one said “I just don't see the point of not eating cheese. I mean, if God didn't want us to eat cheese, would he have let man invent it?” 

Even Charles de Gaulle , president of France after World War 2:" "How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?”  

Cheeses might be a mystery indeed. But not if one understands them.

Actually , cheeses with their different varieties are due to different processing methods. This post will be about Kashkaval ( Bulgarian) , which is commonly known in Lebanon as "Kashkawen".
Kashkaval is from the "Pasta Filata " style Cheeses . That is it is  basically like Mozarella, Cheddar cheese, ...etc

First, It was the Romans wanted a kind of cheese that can stretch , and the way they did it was through adding hot water to the cheese curd.

Mr. Samson Atamian* organized the workshop in cooperation with Farmer to Farmer (ftf) NGO and the Nutrition and Food sciences department of  Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences and hosted by AREC .  FtF had already invited Mr. Johnathan Metzig** for training other dairy companies . Mr. Atamian was given the chance to invite and host him for one day at the American University of Beirut. 

 The purpose of the workshop was broadening the knowledge of  the food technology graduate students in the field of  cheese making. Thus, to improve their skills and knowledge, inorder to be able to improve the local food industry .

Processed Vs Natural Foods as seen in our Stomach

Processed food definitely differs to natural food , whether in their caloric value, preservative content, nutritional benefits and other health differences.
This is constantly proved by  bright food  scientists, nutritionists, medical doctors  researching on this subject. But what how can a filmmaker prove these differences? And  To  what extend does this food differ when we swallow, till we digest , up till we absorb the distinct ingredients in it?

This is what Stefani Bardin  is  trying to find out through a project called: "M2A™: The Fantastic Voyage"
Stefani Bardin*  is currently producing a body of work that explores the influences of corporate culture and industrial food production on our food system. These investigations take the form of single and multi-channel videos, immersive and interactive installations and video games.

Here is about M2A™:

What we can learn from spaghetti sauce

 
                
( Tedx Video )
A logical approach to the  nature of choice and happiness by giving an example of the pursuit of the best recipe that consumers will like.
It's all about food science.  How genious! "Psychophysics"  is mostly used as an analysis tool! This video is just what I try to explain to people  when they ask me about my thesis or  my work in  sensory science!  Malcom G;adwell speaks it all ...
Food Scientists should rejoice over this video.... And Ofcorse Food lovers will understand  the passion that drives food scientists to "perfect" a product and will explain to them why they choose a product over another

I will definitly buy Malcolm Gladwell 's blink book!
Bon Appetite,

Loulwa