History
Historical perspective of the Food structure, digestion and health conference 2012-2025
The Food Structures, Digestion & Health (FSDH) International Conference was initiated by CSIRO and the Riddet Institute, with its inaugural event held in Palmerston North in 2012.
A fundamental objective of the FSDH conference has always been to convene world-leading scientists from diverse disciplines, such as food science, nutrition, digestive behaviour, genetics, medicinal science, and engineering, alongside community and industry professionals. The overarching aim is to exchange knowledge and provide innovative solutions to promote health and wellbeing and to encourage relevant research for translation and up-take by the Food Industry to develop improved nutrition in manufactured food to help reduce diet-related health issues like obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Main Scientific Themes through the years
2012 – Palmerston North, NZ
🧠 Food Structure Design & Engineering
Focused on tailoring food micro- and nano-structures using emulsifiers, hydrogels, and multilayer systems. Highlighted innovations in encapsulating bioactives for stability and targeted release. Set the foundation for applying structural design to improve shelf life, sensory experience, and nutritional delivery.
2013 – Melbourne, Australia
🧠 Digestion & Nutrient Utilisation
Examined how food structure influences nutrient release, appetite regulation, amino acid bioavailability, and glycaemic response. Showcased digestion models for animal vs plant proteins and bioactive delivery systems like omega-3 and whey microcapsules.
2015 – New Zealand (NZ) 🧠 Oral Processing & Sensory Perception Explored food-saliva interactions, mastication behavior, and the mechanical breakdown of structure during chewing. Topics included tribology, mouthfeel mapping, and robotic mastication systems to connect structural breakdown with consumer texture perception. |
2017 – Sydney, Australia
🧠 Modelling Human Digestion
Showcased advanced in vitro and in silico models simulating gastrointestinal conditions. Included SmartPill® gastric transit tools, dynamic digestion systems, and digital twins for predicting nutrient release and flavour perception under realistic digestive settings.
2019 – Rotorua, NZ
🧠 Nutritional Genomics, Metabolomics, and the Gut Microbiome
Covered the interface between food, genes, and microbes. Focus on how dietary inputs shape gut microbiota, modulate metabolism, and influence epigenetic responses. Featured themes like gut-skin axis, barrier function, and microbiome-based dietary interventions.
2021 – Online (Australia)
🧠 Foods for Health & Wellness
Addressed the development of functional foods targeting aging, dementia, and chronic diseases. Emphasized tailored nutrition, population-specific needs, and structure-based design to enhance wellbeing through better bioavailability and acceptability.
2023 – Queenstown, NZ
🧠 Future Food Systems & Alternative Proteins
Highlighted breakthroughs in precision fermentation, plant biotechnology, and sustainable food design. Discussed AI applications, hybrid meat structuring, clean-label trends, and the functionality of insect and plant proteins in future-ready formulations.
2025 – Melbourne, Australia
🧠 Science for Tomorrow’s Food Industry Challenges
Emphasizes translational science — converting cutting-edge research into viable industry applications. Focus on scaling up innovation pipelines, regulatory science, and solving tomorrow’s nutritional challenges with integrated food systems.
Relevance to the Food Industry:
The FSDH conference explicitly has served as a vital platform for the food industry, actively fostering innovation and addressing commercial imperatives:
Bridging Academia and Industry: The conference is distinct in its approach, offering perspectives that span from fundamental academic research to applied product development and consumer acceptance. It actively promotes networking, research collaborations, and joint research initiatives between scientists and industry professionals. The 2025 conference explicitly includes science and industry sessions which will involve a facilitated debate on the balance of ultra processed food and whole food (food industry, food policy and nutritionist) and industry stakeholder round table discussions on topics selected by the food companies with an overall theme focused on AI adoption and challenges in the food industry.
Driving Product Innovation: A key focus has been on translating scientific understanding into the development of high-value consumer foods with demonstrated nutritional benefits and functional properties tailored to global market and consumer preferences. This has encompassed tailoring food structures for both pleasure and health, developing novel functional ingredients, and creating healthier products such as vegetable snack bars. Industry speakers frequently present on topics like “Innovation in Fast Moving Consumer Goods” and the process of “Transforming Scientific Research to Consumer Food“. The 2019 conference highlighted “Smart food design: From food structure engineering to sensory enhancement” by Nestlé and “The critical role of food microstructure in dairy food functionality and nutrition” by Fonterra.
Commercialisation of Science: The conference also seeks to address the commercialisation of nutrition science, focusing on how scientific research can be effectively translated into marketable consumer food products and how innovation can be fostered within food manufacturing companies.
Addressing Global Challenges: The conference has consistently acknowledged the “unprecedented challenges to feed our global society in a secure, sustainable and healthy way”. By concentrating on themes like sustainable processing, alternative proteins, and novel food production methods, it has contributed to industry-wide efforts in sustainability and food security. The 2023 conference included a plenary session on “Global food challenges: Anticipating and overcoming food system vulnerabilities in a world beset by climate change, pandemics and geopolitical strife”.
Informing Dietary Guidelines and Labelling: The conference also functions as a crucial forum for discussing how research on food structure and nutrition can inform and potentially redefine dietary guidelines and food labelling for improved health outcomes, thereby influencing industry practices and consumer education.
Strong Industry Support: The consistent and visible sponsorship and participation from major food companies and research organisations, including Zespri, Fonterra, Nestlé, Mars Petcare, and Simplot, clearly underscore the conference’s direct relevance to industry application and investment.