The Science and Policy Initiatives (SPI) team at the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a nonprofit scientific association committed to advancing the science of food and its application across the global food system, has revealed its top five food trends that will not only impact the food and policy landscape, but redefine innovation, safety, sustainability, and consumer trust in the coming year. Those trends include digital tools expanding food safety adoption, AI moving from pilot to practice, and regulatory pressures reshaping the innovation pipeline.

“Our food system is under pressure like never before. Climate change, resource scarcity, geopolitical disruptions, and rising consumer demands are creating unprecedented challenges. In 2026, those challenges will only intensify,” says Brendan Niemira, PhD, IFT Chief Science and Technology Officer (CSTO). “But with those challenges comes opportunity for the food science community to turn uncertainty into innovation, complexity into clarity, and challenges into solutions with next year shaping up to be a landmark year for food innovation.”

IFT’s SPI team is led by Brendan Niemira, who recently took over as IFT’s CSTO, and includes Anna Rosales, vice president of science and policy; Blake Harris, managing director of IFT’s Global Food Traceability Center; Sara Bratager, senior food safety and traceability scientist; Celine Terfloth, food systems analyst; Amanda Ferguson, director of scientific journals; and Andrew Kiefer, manager of scientific journals.

The SPI team has shared expert scientific insight from and on behalf of the IFT community with various governing bodies, and it has weighed in on numerous critical food topics in recent months, including ultra-processed foods, artificial food dyes, and food traceability and safety. The team has also created a series of educational resources that provide consensus scientific perspective and research around critical food topics.

View the 2026 food trends here. 

Related: IFT names new board president