Chicago: Convenience and taste are high on the list of what consumers want—especially when it comes to snack and nutrition bars. In the recent issue of Food Technology magazine published by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), associate editor Melanie Zanoza Bartelme writes about unexpected flavors and emerging trends in the snacks and nutrition bar category.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, does chocolate appeal to you for its flavor, symbolic meaning of love or potential health benefits? Dr. Judith Rodriguez, a nutrition professor and chair of the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of North Florida, discusses myths and facts about chocolate. To help you include chocolate in your diet, a recpie has been provided.

It’s the time of year when thoughts start to turn towards Christmas and planning those all-important party outfits.  

Chicago: Over half of Americans consider themselves adventurous eaters and 82 percent are open to trying new flavors.

IFT Spokesperson and food safety expert, Christine Bruhn, Former Director of the Center for Consumer Research, University of California, Davis and her team videotaped 120 consumers as they prepared a chicken and a salad in their home.

An oven and a refrigerator that sit silently in the kitchen until someone decides to get dinner started? That’s so 2014, say designers working on the next evolution of cutting-edge kitchen appliances.