For years scientists have tried to build an electronic tongue, a robotic tasting device that could have profound applications in improving food quality and safety. But before machines learn to taste their food, they first need to learn how to chew it.

China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) has named and shamed 18 substandard Chinese food brands in a move to better regulate the food market.

The Yam bean originated where the Andes meet the Amazon and is locally grown in South and Central America, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific. It is produced in three species which are called the Amazonian, Mexican and Andean. Interbreeding of the bean has resulted in fertile and stable hybrids.

Last August German police discovered about 50 tons of rotten meat on the premises of a wholesaler in Bavaria. Because the risk of rotten meat turning up in grocery stores everywhere is not to be underestimated, the importance of efficient food quality monitoring is clear.

Implementing best-practice standards for emergency international food aid will improve the quality, timeliness and appropriateness of food aid, reports Daniel Maxwell, PhD, research director for Food Security and Complex Emergencies at the Feinstein International Center (FIC), part of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

Increasingly, consumer products, especially food and beverage products, are being scrutinized for better quality. At the University of Missouri-Columbia, a food science expert has developed a rapid, reliable and efficient technique to ensure fruit and vegetable juice products adhere to federal and international quality standards.