Humans have been smoking foods for almost 2 million years, but what chemical compounds give smoky flavours and what are the reactions that generate them? The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN takes a look. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
Spices add smells and flavours to our food, but chemicals in them can affect our bodies and be used outside the kitchen. In the latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN, we look at examples of these ingredients doing more than spicing up our cooking. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
Many consumers have developed a taste for plant-based meat alternatives in the past decade. In the latest edition of Periodic Graphics in Chemical & Engineering News, we look at what these alternatives are made from and how chemistry is used to improve their appearance and flavour. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
December is here, and that means it’s Chemistry Advent season! It’s been a few years since I’ve put together a new edition, but it’s back this year with the theme “A Festive Food Journey Around the World.”
Cooking is chemistry, so it should come as no surprise that chemical knowledge can help in the kitchen. The latest edition of Periodic Graphics in C&EN includes four practical tips and the science behind them. View the full graphic on the C&EN site.
Alcohol: Well known to be carcinogenic to humans. Despite this, a large proportion of the population drink it regularly. More surprisingly, whenever the International Agency for Research on Cancer updates its carcinogen classifications for other substances with a lower cancer risk, there’s often media fanfare. In recent years, the IARC has upgraded classifications for red meat and aspartame, leading to a spate of panicked articles. This republished and updated post takes a look at what the classification groups actually mean, and how worried we should be about a substance’s classification.
