Food Glorious Food!

Martin Perkins

22nd December 2016

Additives, Authentomics, Food, Food Group, Kathy Ridgway, Nutrition, Royal Society of Chemistry, RSC,


Those of you that read my blog from February 2016, will know I am involved in the Royal Society of Chemistry Food Group.  I have been a member of the committee now for a number of years and we had our AGM earlier this month, so I felt it was time to reflect.

In the last couple of years we have had quite a number of changes in personnel on the committee and now have a good mix of academics and industry representatives and a good mix of ages (as you can see from our group photo above).

One of the benefits of being involved is the network of people that you meet and the vast experience we have in the group.  Although we are all involved in food chemistry, we have very different stories and backgrounds.

Personally my interest has always been from an analytical perspective, but its always interesting to hear about alternative food sources (insects anyone?), nutrition (the fat and sugar debate amongst others), sustainability, natural products (and what is natural anway?!) additives, and many more topics that we discuss.

I do emphasise though that most aspects of food chemistry need some form of measurement to understand – so good analytical methods are always a requirement!

At the AGM, I was appointed the new chair of the group and we already have a number of events planned for 2017.

So in January as you consider conferences for the year ahead, please consider a contribution at ‘Authentomics’ (everyone loves an omic!), or register to attend and find out about one of the many challenges facing the food industry.

Take a look at the RSC website for general information, or join the food interest group when you renew your RSC membership.  Our MyRSC site is open – so you don’t even need to be a member of the RSC to take a look.

If you are interested in the activities of the Food Group and forthcoming meetings, follow this link, or email me directly.