News about Food

Cheese-based ‘magic dust’ will make you love plant-based meals

Food researchers from the University of Copenhagen will, in collaboration with Lactosan A/S, investigate how cheese in powder form can boost umami taste and mouthfeel (kokumi) in plant-based food. The researchers will…

Green and sustainable food should become the automatic choice

One of the main obstacles to introducing a more climate-friendly food culture in Denmark is the many everyday barriers. So says Professor Bente Halkier, who researches everyday life.

Starch from plants is key to bioplastic that is actually degradable

Professor Andreas Blennow’s research group experiments with bioplastics, nutritionally healthy crops and antibiotic multiresistance, but sustainability is the bond that ties Starch together.

How plants colonized the land

University of Copenhagen researchers have shed new light on how plant life became established on the surface of our planet. Specifically, they demonstrated that two genes are indispensable for allowing terrestrial plant…

Phenomenal raw materials will get Danes to fall in love with plant-based diets

Phenomenal raw materials and ingredients are the way forward if more people are to replace meat products with plant-based alternatives and Denmark is to become a world leading producer of plant-based foods. Today, the…

Professor inspired by housewives and schoolchildren

University of Copenhagen professor Dennis Sandris Nielsen has been awarded SCIENCE’s Dissemination Award 2022 for his willingness and ability to communicate research about the broader societal perspectives of bacteria,…

Why the food crisis will pass

Even though the food crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine is now causing acute problems, there is no reason for panic, according to University of Copenhagen food economist Henning Otte Hansen. High food prices will no…

Nordic diet lowers cholesterol and blood sugar – even if you don't lose weight

A healthy Nordic diet can prevent a range of diseases. Until now, the health benefits attributed to a Nordic diet by researchers primarily focused on weight loss. But in a new study, University of Copenhagen researchers…

New robot helps dairy workers make Havarti and Danbo

The world's very first cheese robot is on the move and helping a Danish dairy with the quality control of its cheeses. According to the University of Copenhagen researcher behind the invention, the robot can save dairy…

Pharmaceutical residues in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have the feared effect

Pharmaceutical residues and chemicals from personal care products in sewage sludge and cattle manure do not have a detectable toxic effect on nematodes living in agricultural fields, according to 14-year-long experiment…

X-rays will make plant diets of the future more tasty

X-rays can be used to examine the tiniest parts of food and provide us with fresh knowledge about what makes yogurt feel soft and what it takes for chocolate to have just the right snap. According to researchers at the…

Satellite images reveal a nexus between war, cropland abandonment and food insecurity in South Sudan

A new study sheds light on a complex interaction of armed conflict, cropland abandonment and implications to food security in war-ravaged South Sudan.

Healthy shopping peaks in January

Year after year, January is the month when we load our shopping baskets with the healthiest foods, according to new data from the University of Copenhagen. Is it because so many New Year's resolution makers are seeking…

We prefer farmed salmon – as long as we don't know what we're eating

A blind taste test by University of Copenhagen researchers demonstrates that Danes prefer the taste of both conventionally and organically farmed smoked salmon over wild-caught salmon. However, the picture is turned…

Danes have reduced meat consumption – but we lag behind other Europeans

A major new survey on meat consumption in Europe reports that Europeans have a growing appetite for plant-based foods and that meat consumption has dipped. While this applies to Denmark as well, Danes lag behind the…

Danish children love fish, but eat it all too rarely

Danish children eat less than a third of the recommended amount of fish. A new study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen reports that this isn’t because kids don’t like fish – in fact, they’re wild about it.…

Robots can improve agriculture, but old laws stand in the way

Agricultural robots have the potential to address labour shortages and increase global food security. However, outdated laws are an obstacle for these new technologies according to a new study from the University of…

Farmers' share of food prices has fallen

The path from farm to fork is getting longer and longer on a global scale. In fact, most of what we pay for food doesn’t go to those who grow or raise foods, but to food processors, packagers, transporters and others. A…

Ancient riddle solved: Danish researchers find a way to make faba beans safe for all to eat

Consuming large amounts of faba beans can be dangerous for about 400 million people due to a compound called vicine, which accumulates in the beans. This limits their potential as a widespread, sustainable source of…

Ancient riddle solved: Danish researchers find a way to make faba beans safe for all to eat

Consuming large amounts of faba beans can be dangerous for about 400 million people due to a compound called vicine, which accumulates in the beans. This limits their potential as a widespread, sustainable source of…

New in ISBUC: Eva Kummer

Eva Kummer is one of the newest members of ISBUC. In April 2021, Eva was recruited as an Associate Professor in the Structural Biology Group at the Centre for Protein Science, UCPH.

The sense of smell in older adults declines when it comes to meat, but not vanilla

Contrary to what science once suggested, older people with a declining sense of smell do not have comprehensively dampened olfactory ability for odors in general – it simply depends upon the type of odor. Researchers at…

Researchers show new holistic approach to genetics and plant breeding

A group of researchers has discovered a new approach to cereal plant breeding that takes into account the internal "calculator" of plant seeds that makes them continuously reorganise themselves (global coherence). The…

Beetles that pee themselves to death could be tomorrow’s pest control

Various beetle species have gobbled through grain stores and weakened food production worldwide since ancient times. Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen have discovered a better way of targeting and…