As we've highlighted in previous F-Files articles, the structural and material properties of food represent a remarkable and hugely diverse branch of material science. Each food product, whether natural (i.e. fruit, meat, vegetables), or manufactured(e.g. ice cream, yoghurt, tomato ketchup), is the result of the complex interaction and assembly of food components into the requisite structure. For manufactured foods, such assembly is achieved through the manipulation of ingredient functionality by the application of processing (heat, shear etc.), as well as making use of other effects dependent on pH, ionic environment and even the biochemistry of the system. More importantly, food structures can be created with (usually) a high degree of reproducibility, so that products do not show unwanted variability in the eyes of the consumer.
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