Research trends 2024–2025

Abstract

Every year, people attempt to predict the most important trends of the new year. One focus of predictions is future trends in food. There are numerous outlets that claim to highlight trends based on various algorithms. One way to get a sense of what's coming is to assess the scientific literature—what are the hot areas in publishing?

It is arguable that you can get a true sense of future trends by looking at keywords of publications from the previous year, but it is one way to look at things, providing a perspective from scholarly research. Some of these “trends” might be considered “new,” but many appear to be continuing/evolving issues in food science, perhaps not surprising since this is what scientists study and publish today.

Of the 20 topics, numerous ones speak to the recent growth in all aspects of health and nutrition. From lifecycle nutrition to gut health, this area remains a hot topic and probably will for years to come as we seek to better understand the effects of food on human health. In accordance with this trend, the category Food, Health, and Nutrition in Journal of Food Science has the highest level of manuscript submissions across all topics. Because of this, we have added several new editors to this category in the past year or so to help handle the onrush of manuscripts.

Another theme relates to plant-based foods, again a topic that has seen significant growth over the past few years as we look for more sustainable ways to feed the world. Interestingly, animal proteins can also be found on the list in the context of nutrition, health, and well-being.

One topic on the trend list that I find interesting is sensory science, since it has also been a topic of study for decades. Here, they highlight sensory studies as related to maximizing consumer appeal. Consumer insights and behavioral science fall under this category as do innovations in aroma, taste, and texture of foods, particularly plant-based and alternative protein products. I suspect that the use of AI will show some interesting innovations in the sensory world in the near future.

It is intriguing that food safety and quality is on a future trends list since they have been areas of major concern for decades. Specifically called out here, though, are rapid testing, traceability, and emerging risks. In this sense, this is still a future trend and is likely to be a topic of study for many more years as we strive to provide a safe food supply.

One could say the same about thermal processing, given that it is a fairly mature field. However, research is still needed on optimizing retention of nutrients while delivering desirable flavor and texture. It is interesting that nonthermal processing does not appear to be called out in this list within any category since there is still a lot going on there.

Alternative processing technologies are noted to some extent within the category of transformative food technology. However, the specific areas called out under that category include equipment optimization, nanotechnology applications, and smart packaging solutions, with no mention of nonthermal processing per se. Based on the manuscripts I have handled, I am certain that nonthermal processing remains a strong area of research despite its omission from this list.

Sustainability finds its way onto this list within the category of Food Economics. Consumer trends and global challenges related to availability, affordability, and equitable distribution also fall into this category. One might suspect this area to increase in the future as well.

As with all prognostications, we will see what the future really brings.

Sincerely,

Rich Hartel, PhD

Editor in Chief, Journal of

Food Science

Professor, University of

Wisconsin–Madison