Surprising Science!
Food Science and Technology Series:
Sweet, Yet Not Diabetic!
A Rainbow Diet for Better Health
Hidden Dangers in Some of Your Food
Sweet, Yet Not Diabetic!
Although sweeteners are all sweet in nature, consumers may be able to detect sweeteners that will influence their acceptance of a product. Can you tell the difference between products sweetened by zero calorie sweeteners and table sugar? Sensory evaluation is a scientific method that can be used to discover consumer perceptions of a newly developed food product.
Dr Leong Lai Peng
Department of Food Science and Technology
Dr Leong received her Ph.D. in Food Science from the Procter Department of Food Science, University of Leeds. She is one of four pioneer faculty members at NUS’ then Food Science and Technology Programme (now the Department of Food Science and Technology). Dr Leong is actively involved in new food product development, exploring novel functional ingredients in foods, and studying their chemistry, applications and consumer acceptance. She also contributes to Singapore’s food safety standards, and is involved in the Singapore Accreditation Council, Singapore National Academy of Science and Singapore National Institute of Chemistry.
A Rainbow Diet for Better Health
Prof Philip Barlow explains how you can maintain a well-balanced diet by choosing a range of different coloured foods. Red tomatoes give us lycopene, orange carrots are the precursor for Vitamin A and green foods provide Vitamin C and Vitamin B. A variety of colour also makes food more attractive on our plate!
Prof Philip Barlow
Department of Food Science and Technology
Prof Barlow obtained his B.Sc. in Environmental Health from Aston University and Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition from Leeds University. He specialises in food safety and nutrition, with particular interest in food forensics – which looks at the provenance of food and its detailed composition ranging from the nutrients present to possible contaminants. Prof Barlow was the first Director of the Food Science and Technology Programme (now the Department of Food Science and Technology). He is currently a lecturer on human nutrition at the department, and teaches a General Education module on food and health. Prof Barlow has also worked as a food inspector and consultant in food contamination investigations.
Hidden Dangers in Some of Your Food
How do we know what is in food? Prof Philip Barlow brings us through various ways. One is to look at the food label, which is a good guide to the major components of a food product. The label also indicates specific components that we might have to avoid if we have food allergies or food intolerance. Sometimes it is necessary to conduct laboratory testing to find out what else might be in our food. This would include looking for contaminants such as pesticide residues or the presence of toxic metals. As we cannot see bacterial contamination, it may also be necessary to screen foods for the presence of pathogenic bacteria.
Prof Philip Barlow
Department of Food Science and Technology
Prof Barlow obtained his B.Sc. in Environmental Health from Aston University and Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition from Leeds University. He specialises in food safety and nutrition, with particular interest in food forensics – which looks at the provenance of food and its detailed composition ranging from the nutrients present to possible contaminants. Prof Barlow was the first Director of the Food Science and Technology Programme (now the Department of Food Science and Technology). He is currently a lecturer on human nutrition at the department, and teaches a General Education module on food and health. Prof Barlow has also worked as a food inspector and consultant in food contamination investigations.
