Table Talk

Eating is a multi-sensory experience, all our sensory mechanisms working together to judge taste, flavour, texture, and assess the underlying nutrition. Humans have evolved to become incredibly good at this, which can be a problem for innovators, particularly for those in the plant-based sector. Because despite the huge amount of brainwork going into developing the taste and texture of plant-based meat alternatives, the bottom line is, we can often tell that it is a substitute.    Our senses tell us that it is not the same. Now for some that is all part of the fun, having new taste experiences. But for many, the lure of animal protein is just too strong and they want an exact replica just without the animal. So could artificial intelligence be the answer?   Could we use machine learning to match animal products to meat-free ingredients at the molecular level?  To outsmart our senses and, possibly, save the environment at the same time. That is the question which the people at the food tech company NotC