food-and-cooking

What are the risks of reusing plastic food containers

Movements such as Plastic Free July and ABC TV's War On Waste encourage people to make better use of their home-brought containers.

But should you be worried about food cross-contamination?

Tom Ross, an associate professor in food microbiology at the University of Tasmania, said if good food-handling practices were observed, the risk was small.

Food health-rating labels failing to reveal added sugars, study finds

Professor Bruce Neal from the George Institute for Global Health in Sydney reviewed more than 34,000 packaged foods with health-star ratings.

These are the voluntary front-of-pack labels, designed to help people make healthier choices.

But health experts said naturally occurring sugars found in fruits, vegetables and dairy were treated the same as sugars added during food processing.

How to train your tastebuds and other tips for your tongue

The taste of foods such as broccoli, coriander and brussels sprouts can divide many of us.

But there is hope for those wanting to broaden their palate, according to Dr Veronique Chachay from UQ's School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences.

"Different textures and food presented in a different way can help develop certain tastes," she said.

"We can change our tastes by the number of exposures to a certain food."

For example, someone who dislikes bananas should eat them daily over a two-week period in different forms: mashed, whole and with other foods.

The science of taste: Why we choose fries over broccoli

But observations and research show this is generally not the case.

Instead, people tend to make choices based on how food tastes. Typically, the more sugar, salt and fat in the food, the more we will like it.

Genetics, experience and environment also influence our perception of food and the consumption choices we make.

Got leftovers? Cook at work and save on waste

Don't let it go to waste! Take it to work, get your workmates to do the same and cook it up in a pot-luck lunchtime feast.

That's the concept behind the Cookluck Club.

It's a new initiative by Youth Food Movement Australia which encourages workplaces to pool their leftovers to avoid food wastage and promote team bonding by cooking in the work kitchen.

The Sydney arm of the volunteer organisation do this every day and members take turns creating interesting recipes.

Australia's first celebrity chef is also an artist

This week his food and wind-themed exhibition opens in Cheltenham in Melbourne.

"Not wind made by the food, but musical instruments," he said.

The 82-year-old recalled his first encounter with art while sitting in a highchair and using baby food to paint the walls.

"My mother who was an intelligent young mother realised that there was some art there," he said.

"She encouraged me to mix spinach with this farex just to put a bit of texture and colour with it and I've sort of being going on the same sort of way ever since."

Urban foraging: Nutritious weeds growing in your backyard

Dandelions, plantain and cat's ear are three of the most common edible weeds growing in gardens and street verges across Canberra.

Urban forager Sarah Aylott told ABC Radio Canberra's Lish Fejer that these plants come from a long list of edible and highly nutritious weeds.

"Dandelion is the wild ancestor from which we cultivated broccolini, kale, brussels sprouts and kohlrabi," Ms Aylott said.

Sugar tax would prolong Australians' lives more than two years, Melbourne researchers find

In an article to be published in the PLOS (Public Library of Science) Magazine, modelling by the university's Centre for Public Health Policy concludes that taxing foods that are high in sugar, salt and saturated fats — as well as subsidising fruit and vegetables — would also save $3.4 billion in healthcare costs.

"The study suggests that taxes and subsidies on foods and beverages can potentially be combined to achieve substantial improvements in population health and cost savings to the health sector," the article reads.