Food research at Diamond

Today’s consumers are becoming increasingly discerning about the foods they choose to buy and the food industry is challenged with creating products that cater for a wide range of tastes and lifestyles – from healthy lifestyles through to more plant-based diets, and products to address food intolerances. 

Food scares have pushed for improved quality control and traceability of food, and legislation in this industry continues to bring new challenges.  Rising raw material costs around the world, sustainability and waste reduction have also added to challenges for the food industry, particularly for global supply chains.

Due to the competitive nature of this industry, brand loyalty is premium, requiring consistently high quality and an endless cycle of new product developments to meet consumer demands.

When it comes to perfecting the taste, texture and appearance of food, manufacturers are increasingly turning to research methods to create the optimal customer experience across multiple environments.

Innovation in these areas requires a good understanding of the science behind the product or process and access to the widest possible variety of research and development tools. Diamond Light Source's advanced characterisation facilities are actively supporting this innovation.

Diamond provides specialist analytical techniques that can be used by the food industry to characterise materials ranging from ingredients and formulations, packaging and food processing components through to agriculture.

The specialist facilities enable researchers to drill much deeper than an ordinary laboratory would allow, reaching atomic to microscale level. These characterisation tools provide rapid, detailed and actionable insight, using a number of techniques. These fall into three main technique classes:

• X-ray Diffraction- for the structural analysis of materials from the atomic to macro scale
• Spectroscopy - for the chemical analysis (and imaging) of local atomic structure in materials.
• X-ray Imaging - a high-resolution, non-destructive technique for high-speed visualisation of a sample.(including its internal structure).

Working with the Industrial Liaison team isn't just about accessing Diamond's advanced scientific facilities.  We have a dedicated team of experts to help you get the most out of your experiments and to ensure you achieve actionable results. They will support you throughout your experiment, and can:

• Advise on the best approach and find solutions to your challenges
• Conduct sample preparation & data collection on your behalf
• Provide modelling, and detailed data analysis where required

You can choose from a number of different access levels to suit your particular requirements.  So, whatever your level of expertise, we have an option available for you.