7th Food Structure & Functionality Symposium
18-21 October 2026 | Palazzo Regionale dei Congressi, Grado, Italy
Register early to claim your discount! Deadline: 24 July 2026
7th Food Structure & Functionality Symposium
The Food Structure and Functionality Forum (FSFF) is pleased to announce the 7th Food Structure and Functionality Symposium, which will be held in Grado, Italy from 18 to 21 October 2026.
#foodstructuresymposium
Focusing on food materials science as the foundation of next-generation food design, the 7th Food Structure and Functionality Symposium unites scientists and industry leaders to explore how structure, processing, and formulation can be tuned to create desirable functionality and eating quality.
Previous delegates have said:
“Highly relevant scope and attendance of world class researchers.”
“Comprehensive, well organized with internationally-recognised experts.”
“I learnt a lot from the sessions and gained valuable information about food structure analysis related to my research.”
“Very well organised, very good sponsors, excellent presentations and amazing topics about food science.”
“High scientific level talks, informative and engaging.”
The 7th Food Structure and Functionality Symposium will take place in Grado, Italy. Grado, often called the “Island of the Sun”, is an elegant seaside town whose entire coastline faces south, offering kilometres of beaches that enjoy sunshine at any time of day thanks to a unique and favourable microclimate. The historic centre includes a maze of narrow streets and small squares, lined with picturesque fishermen’s houses and Roman archaeological remains.
Conference topics
We are still open for late breaking poster submissions - submit here >opens in new tab/window
Session 1: Nature-inspired materials Session 2: Computational tools for food structure design Session 3: From mechanism to microstructure Session 4: Novel processing strategies Session 5: Breaking down sensory and digestion Session 6: Advances in characterization
Organizers
This conference is organized by Elsevier and Food Structure and Functionality Forum.
Under the patronage of: University of Udine
Deadlines
Author notification deadline: 26 June 2026
Author registration deadline: 24 July 2026
Early booking deadline: 24 July 2026
Supporting publication
Food Structure is the premier international forum devoted to the publication of high-quality articles related to food structure and functionality. All articles must highlight the significance of the research findings for the foodscience community and/or industry.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Structuring and de-structuring of dispersed food systems, such as emulsions and foams
Structuring and de-structuring of food systems containing hydrocolloids, crystals, particles and gels
Food structure design across the lifespan
Constructing food matrices for oral and gut functionality
Linking structure and functionality in foods using novel experimental and modelling approaches.
Food Structure special issue
Food Structureopens in new tab/window will publish a Special Issue related to the 7th Food Structure & Functionality Symposium. All presenters (oral and poster) at the conference are invited to submit a paper on their presented work for the Special Issue.
Further information will be available shortly.
Awards
Food Structure and Functionality Symposium Young Scientist Award – Winner announced!
We are delighted to announce that the recipient of the Food Structure and Functionality Symposium Young Scientist Award is:
Alejandra Acevedo-Fani, Riddet Institute, Massey University
Dr Alejandra Acevedo-Fani is an Associate Professor in Food Science at the Riddet Institute, Massey University (New Zealand). Her research focuses on functional food colloids, including emulsion systems and proteins, and how their structure across multiple length scales influences functionality and digestion. She earned her PhD from the University of Lleida (Spain) in 2016 and joined the Riddet Institute in 2017. She now leads a research team working on structural and functional characterisation of plant-based food materials and hybrid systems with dairy. She is principal investigator at the Riddet Institute Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE), co-authored 50+ publications and patents and co-founded ANDFOODS, a plant-based dairy start-up.
Dr Isaac Heertje Distinguished Scientist Award - winner announced!
We are delighted to announce that the recipient of the Dr Isaac Heertje Distinguished Scientist Award is:
Anne-Marie Hermansson, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
Anne-Marie Hermansson is Professor emeritus in Structured biomaterials and Food Science at Chalmers University of Technology. 2010- 2012 she was Vice President of Strategic Research Areas at Chalmers. She had been Director of the Structure and Material Design Unit at SIK/RISE and Director of the Excellence Centre SuMo Biomaterials at Chalmers. She was Board member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and Chair of the Royal Academy National Committee of Nutrition and Food Sciences She is a fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and fellow of IAFoST. 2007 she received the IVA Gold medal. 2019 she received EFFoST Lifetime Achievement award. She has a M.Sc. in chemical engineering from Chalmers and a Ph.D. in Food Technology from Lund University. She has published around 200 papers and conference proceedings and has a H-index of 47.
Food Structure Best Graduate Poster Awards 2026
The journal, Food Structureopens in new tab/window, is delighted to sponsor Best Graduate Poster Awards at the 7th Food Structure and Functionality Symposium. All accepted poster authors, who register and present, will be eligible for a monetary prize and Best Poster Certificate. Note that these awards are open for eligible graduate students only! The Scientific Committee will conduct the review: criteria will include the quality of the poster; live presentation, and research.
History
6th Food Structure and Functionality Symposium: Meeting the sustainability challenge 6-9 October 2024 | Bruges, Belgium
View the 2024 program opens in new tab/window
5th Food Structure & Functionality Symposium Structuring Foods for a Sustainable World 18-21 September 2022 | Clayton Hotel Cork City, Cork, Ireland
View the 2022 programopens in new tab/window
4th Food Structure & Functionality Symposium 18 - 21 October 2021 | Online
View the 2021 programopens in new tab/window
Food Structure & Functionality Forum Online Mini Symposium 20th October 2020 | Online
View the 2020 programopens in new tab/window
3rd Food Structure and Functionality Forum Symposium - From Molecules to Functionality 3-6 June 2018, Montreal, Canada
View the 2018 programopens in new tab/window
2nd Food Structure and Functionality Forum Symposium - From Molecules to Functionality 28 February – 2 March 2016, Singapore
View the 2016 programopens in new tab/window
Food Structure and Functionality Forum Symposium from Molecules to Functionality 30 March – 2 April 2014, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Isaac Heertje Lifetime Achievement Award Winners
2024 Jose M. Aguilera, The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile
2022 Professor Alan Mackie, University of Leeds, UK
2018 Milos Kalab, Agriculture and Agri-Food, Canada
2016 Prof Nissim Garti, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
2014 Dr. Isaac Heertje, Unilever, The Netherlands
Young Scientist Award Winners
2024 Marta Martínez, Institute of Food Science Research (CIAL), Spain
2022 Fabio Valoppi, University of Helsinki, Finland
2021 Professor Tara Grauwet, Centre of Food and Microbial Technology, Laboratory of Food Technology (LFT), KU Leuven, Belgium.
2018 Andrew Gravelle, University of Guelph, Canada
Food Structure Best Graduate Poster Awards
2024
Quinten Masijn, KU Leuven, Belgium – Thermal aggregation of potato protein in food systems
Lennaert Sanders, Ghent University, Belgium – Lubricative properties of crystalline fat
Tiago C. Pinto, University of Helsinki Department of Food and Nutrition, Finland – Kinetic entrapment of oil for tailorable digestibility and development of oleogel-in-oleogel systems
2022
Konstantinos Korompokis, KU Leuven, Belgium - Novel enzymatic starch modification for tailoring its digestibility: an in vitro and in vivo study
Irene Wainaina, KU Leuven, Belgium - Kinetics of phytate hydrolysis in stored red kidney beans and the implication in hard-to-cook development
Daniela Freitas, Teagasc Food Research Centre , Ireland - Boiling vs baking: cooking methods influence cell wall integrity and the digestion of starch and protein from white and sweet potatoes in vitro
Isabel Kalinke, Technical University of Munich, Germany - Innovative solid-state microwave technology for the product-friendly and energy-efficient heating and drying of complex food products
2021 Talita Comunian, Teagasc, Ireland “Impact of molecular composition of gum arabic on complex formation and its interactions with soluble pea protein.”
Akane Matsumoto, Hiroshima University, Japan “Effects of water and pre-gelatinized starch on the rheological properties of pizza dough and the texture properties of pizza crust.”
Ram Raj Panthi, University College Cork, Ireland “Alkalinization of microfiltration retentate and rehydration characteristics of resulant micellar casein concentrate powder.”
Martina Klost, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany “Effect of pH during protein pre-treatment on rheological properties of pea protein gels.”
2016 L.C. Sow, National University of Singapore, Singapore A. Bhushani, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, India M. Schutyser, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
2014 Annelien Rigolle, KU Leuven, Belgium Meng Li, Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Center, Co. Cork, Ireland Rika Kobayashi, Nihon University, Japan
Related links
Conference hashtag: #foodstructuresymposium