Inaugural Editorial

Food is a basic human need and right. Ensuring the sufficient supply and safety of food is vitally important for sustainable development. Over the last few decades, the efficiency of food production has improved by virtue of developments of science and technology in the food industry. However, with the ever-increasing global population, inadequate food supply remains a serious challenge worldwide. Moreover, climate change accelerates the decline of arable land and water resources year by year, thus further aggravating the situation. Improving food supply capacity has become a top priority for governments, academia, and the food industry. Currently, unhealthy dietary patterns impose a high-risk factor on human health, and nutritious, healthy, and personalized foods have become a new consumer demand. All these conditions require a consistent focus on the frontiers of food science and technologies to ensure the novelty and sustainability of food systems.

Based on accelerating globalization and the currently implemented move towards the fourth industrial revolution, food innovations with advanced science and technologies have expanded. Basic disciplines such as chemistry, physics, and biology are being increasingly integrated, enabling food products to meet the requirements of consumers across the world. The main foci are on novel technologies including green processing, nutrition, healthiness, and the development of future foods. Currently, food science and technologies are developing quickly. For instance, the expansion of the use of plant-based proteins has led to the birth of food products from cell factories. The establishment of low-carbon green processing modes has promoted the transformation and upgrading of certain food industries. Today, functional foods can be precisely created and developed according to the physical characteristics and eating habits of different consumers. Overall, the complexity of the current food system has two opposing effects on food innovation: it provides opportunities but also imposes challenges.

We launched the new journal Food Innovation and Advances (FIA) to capture and publish significant discoveries from a comprehensive scope of food-related themes. This Open Access & online international journal publishes high-quality original research, reviews, comments, and opinions on—but not limited to—the areas mentioned above. Our goal is to shape FIA into the most recognized scientific forum supporting the development of science and technology of food, with a particular focus on advancing and infusing food innovations. This is feasible based on the solid scientific background and long-term vision of the China Agricultural University, which strives to join the ranks of leading global research institutions in the field of food research, in collaboration with Maximum Academic Press.

We welcome you to our new journal and will continuously contribute our diverse experiences to further develop FIA. We would like to cordially invite everyone with a dedication and passion for food research to expand our editorial board to better serve both our authors and readers. We pledge to work with all our authors, reviewers, and the publisher to achieve a vigorous and speedy peer-review process by reducing bottlenecks in the publication process thus making the publishing experience simpler, faster, and more pleasant. Finally, as we are still facing unprecedented challenges to secure sufficient food supply and consistently combat food safety and nutritional deficiency issues, efforts from diverse groups are needed to achieve collaborative thinking on global food challenges and identify solutions. We sincerely welcome and value all of your research and ideas and are sure these will constantly improve FIA.