Future of Food | Chef Kelly

Founder, Future of Food: Ai & Data Science for Sustainability
Corporate Executive Chef, Nestle USA (fmr)
Futureproofing Food for 20 years

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

The David bar lawsuit is viral. The Mean Girls jokes are everywhere. But the actual story is about a fat substitute, an old regulatory pathway, and how we count calories. Worth reading before you pick a side. https://t.co/fbyU1jLXYB

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

How Deep Ingredient Intelligence + AI Modeling Can Alleviate M&M's Color Conundrum https://t.co/aUuCnPJGhQ via @LinkedIn

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Mars Wrigley cut 307 Newark jobs. No statement. Just a WARN notice. Meanwhile Mars Snacking drops $100M on a Chicago HQ. Production shrinks. Corporate grows. The pattern is worth watching. https://t.co/eQBg4ssz2H #FoodIndustry #FutureOfFood

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

National Ice Cream Day is today. Dairy Queen: free Dilly Bar w/ $1 app purchase. Haagen-Dazs: BOGO sundaes all July. Dippin' Dots: free mini cups today at select spots. Roundup via Fast Company.

#NationalIceCreamDay

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

The fight isn't whether ultra-processed foods exist. It's how to define them, and the FDA and USDA now have three competing frameworks: processing-based, ingredient-based, and nutrient-composition. Whichever wins reshapes labeling, formulation, and clean-label strategy.

https://t.co/udsbeFL9pp

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Natural blue is the hardest color to make from nature. Spirulina falls apart; brands chasing a clean blue end up exactly that: blue.

We're not so blue anymore. AKA Foods + DyeConverter ran the numbers, high confidence.

Live, week of the 27th. Comment BLUE for the invite.

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Protein stopped being a category and became a default. At IFT FIRST, it showed up in a seed-and-nut bar, a 12g waffle, a breakfast biscuit, and even whey-protein "mocktail" Jell-O shots. When protein reaches the novelty drink, it's a marketing tool, not a health claim.

https://t.co/LfqexrcNBS

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Breaking: ADM and EVERY are scaling OvoPro, EVERY's precision-fermented egg white protein, at ADM's Clinton, Iowa plant, billed as the first US site with precision fermentation at this scale. A clean-label protein that never touches a hen.

https://t.co/7f7vJCCXdn

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

The best event of IFT week happened before the show floor opened. Startup CPG's first Founders and Formulators sat founders down with veteran formulators, speed-dating style, in Chicago. The real bottleneck in better food isn't the idea; it's access to the people who can build it.

#IFTFIRST

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

The Better Meat Co is now BMC Ingredients, aiming its Rhiza whole-food mycelium well beyond meat alternatives. Two formats, a 2027 facility, and a clear bet: margin lives in the ingredient-supply tier, not the finished-product shelf.

https://t.co/JpuKf1dOf9

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Nestlé and Mondelez are building AI in-house to speed up product development. Trouble is, building it takes years, and the purpose-built platforms are already sprinting. Scale isn't the edge anymore; speed is.

https://t.co/xrkQVV5f4q

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Kraft Heinz is deploying AI across product development, manufacturing, and marketing. Clean-label pressure is real, and the incumbents are responding. The pantry reinvention has officially started. https://t.co/ecwzBpUBdE #FoodInnovation #FutureOfFood

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

The FDA oversees ~80% of the U.S. food supply. Its commissioner shortlist: a White House aide, a Pentagon official, an oncologist. None with food experience. Yet the FDA's own food chief headlines IFT FIRST in July. Why isn't he on the list? https://t.co/dg2wUSzm51 #FoodPolicy

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Kroger, ADUSA, and Hy-Vee are co-hosting a health conference in D.C. Three direct competitors. One stage. Grocery health strategy just became a collective move. https://t.co/MMcLcxoNFa #FoodFuture #GroceryInnovation #HealthyFood

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

"Low sodium is out" is aging badly. Average intake hits 4,200 mg/day vs a 2,300 cap, driven by ultra-processed food. "Reduced" failed on metallic potassium-chloride blends, not the goal. The real fix: a naturally low-sodium Atacama sea salt, same taste, 1:1 swap.

https://t.co/YHFHTe2OH1

#FoodScience

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

The FDA just made "no artificial colors" label claims easier. The legal gray zone that stalled clean-label brands for years is gone, and consumer demand was already there. The brands that move first will own the shelf.

https://t.co/qNScqb2Gm2

#CleanLabel #FoodPolicy

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Nestlé USA completed full artificial color removal across its entire US portfolio. Everyone else is still catching up. The benchmark just moved.

https://t.co/YNWPr3eVFF

#FoodScience #NaturalColors

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Nestlé USA completed full artificial color removal across its entire US portfolio. Everyone else is still catching up. The benchmark just moved.

https://t.co/YNWPr3eVFF

#FoodScience #NaturalColors

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Barbie sells donuts. Brady sells chocolate vaults. M&M's timed candy to a reality-TV window. Limited-edition collabs are now a primary revenue lever in snack and confectionery, not a PR stunt. Which ones actually move product? #FutureOfFood #BrandCollabs

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Amazon and Walmart are racing to scale 30-minute grocery delivery. The proximity advantage that built the convenience-store category compresses to near zero. Regional chains lack the logistics depth to match.

https://t.co/pLCsVJusYg

#FutureOfFood #Amazon #GroceryDelivery

[Future of Food | Chef Kelly @Real_ChefKelly]

Consumer Reports and Yuka tested 40 popular American grocery snacks. Over a third exceeded safe daily intake for at least one additive or contaminant in a single serving.

Top findings: Hostess Donettes hit 261 mg titanium dioxide (banned in EU). Jell-O Chocolate Fudge Pudding led Red 40 at 14.19 mg per serving. Little Debbie listed Red 40 but the dye was not detected; the only outlier.

https://t.co/HwKx7LgAuP

#FutureOfFood #ConsumerReports #Red40