Month: December 2023

What is an adhesion test?   Adhesion is the force that resists the separation of two bodies in contact. An adhesion test measures the adhesive characteristics of a product by measuring the forces to separate the product from the test surface which it comes into contact with. Adhesiveness (‘Stickiness’) is most commonly measured with a cylinder probe, […]

Our probes and fixtures range has developed due to the need for new ways to hold/support and test samples in ways that haven’t been previously available for traditional texture analysis test methods. For example, instead of using the Texture Analyser in an up and down mode you could support the instrument on its side and […]

What makes chewy candies so appealing? Texture is a huge part of it. That’s why a lot of professional chefs love making candy—manipulating texture is what chefs do. Professional confectioners, too, are masters of texture, and they’re seriously well schooled in the ingredients that go into our favourite confections.   For every piece of chewy […]

With names like Ultra-Tex 3, Methocel F50, and agar agar, hydrocolloids sound like they’re meant for science fiction novels, not our pantries. However, these seemingly mysterious white powders are incredibly valuable in food development and can provide fun new textural experiences. Derived from natural sources (like seaweed, tapioca, and plant matter), hydrocolloids have been used […]

The food industry is experiencing a paradigm shift. People’s growing awareness of the food that they consume and the drive for new customized sensory experiences is pushing for the development of new technologies that can satisfy these new consumers’ standards. One of these novel technologies, 3D Printing, has been around for a while, however, only […]

Back in December 2019, Roberts Bakery in Norwich were the first UK bakery to launch a loaf of bread containing cricket flour. The uptake from other bakeries has been slow in the UK; customers will take some convincing before they overcome their trepidation to eat insects. However, it is likely that insects will become a […]

Microneedle (MN) arrays are minimally-invasive devices used to penetrate the skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum, the principal barrier to topically-applied drugs. They are widely used in a range of applications including cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Their use involves a simple, cheap, safe, and effective technique requiring minimal training. Microneedles were originally used as a collagen […]