Food firms: ‘study scientific impact of innovation’

That’s the view of Professor Barry Smith in this exclusive video for FoodManufacture.co.uk filmed ahead of his keynote address at the Food Manufacture Group’s innovation conference in the spring.

Food and drink businesses should continue to innovate products once they are on the retail shelf and should test to see what happens to consumers’ senses and emotions when they eat them, Smith, who is the director of the Institute of Philosophy and founder of the Centre for the Study of the Senses, said.

‘Need to do more’​

“While great innovation is going on in food design, food marketing, looking at the product and improving the product – we need to do more to understanding the experience of those who consume things with this level of innovation built into them,”​ he said.

Smith said he was looking forward to finding out what innovation food manufacturers are working on and how he can help improve the overall experience for consumers at the New Frontiers in Food & Drink conference at the etc.venues in London on March 17.

Watch this video to find out what role Smith said neuroscience should play in food and drink innovation.

New Frontiers in Food & Drink​

New Frontiers in Food & Drink will investigate the latest trends in new product development: from crowd sourcing of ideas, to new personalised nutrition; from healthy reformulation, to product fortification and emerging ingredients and proteins.

It will host speakers from across the food and drink industry, including representatives from: Mintel, Food Innovation Solutions, Graze, British Nutrition Foundation and Leatherhead Food Research.

For more information, including how to book, visit the event website.​

Meanwhile, watch our other video with Smith to find out how shape and texture of food can influence smell and taste.