The food scientist is commonly confronted with the challenge of modifying the
formulation of a food product. The objective may be to enhance the taste, texture
or appearance of the food, to produce a product with a longer shelf-life or a
healthier image, or to improve manufacturing efficiency by incorporating a
cheaper ingredient or adopting a new processing technology. The speed with
which these objectives can be accomplished depends on the level of fundamental
understanding that exists on the key physico-chemical factors affecting product
properties. In the case of food colloids, it is especially important to understand
how the interfacial and aggregation behaviour of constituent proteins are affected
by processing conditions, such as heat or shear forces, or by molecular
interactions of proteins with other ingredients like fats, emulsifiers or hydrocolloids.
Improved insight into such factors will be achieved by researchers who can
take advantage of emerging theoretical concepts and experimental techniques, as
well as by those who continue to apply established methods to the systematic
study of model food systems under well-defined sets of conditions.