David Julian McClements
Distinguished Professor of Food Science | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
D. Julian McClements is the most highly cited food scientist in the world, known for his leading research on plant-based food.
Expertise (4)
Plant-based Food
Food Science
Food Nanotechnology
Food Architecture
Biography
David Julian McClements has been sought after to answer pressing questions about the future of the food we eat, especially in the growing area of plant-based alternative proteins.
He is the author of the 2023 book, "Meat Less: The Next Food Revolution," a follow-up to "Next-Generation Plant-based Foods: Design, Production, and Properties" and "Future Foods."
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Education (2)
University of Leeds: Ph.D., Food Science
University of Leeds: Bachelor of Science, Food Science
Links (3)
Select Recent Media Coverage (11)
The climate case for mock meats is clear. But who can afford them?
Grist online
2024-06-24
David Julian McClements, who says his family switched to a plant-based diet a decade ago at the urging of his then-teenaged daughter, comments in an article on the expense of switching to a diet with animal-sourced meat alternatives. “Finding good quality ingredients [and] being able to bring them all together and combine them into something that tastes great but is also affordable, healthy and sustainable is very, very challenging,” McClements says.
What to know about concerns over titanium dioxide in foods
CBS News tv
2024-06-17
Titanium dioxide, an ingredient usually found in some sunscreens, is turning up in foods consumed by many Americans, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. David Julian McClements, a food science professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, joins CBS News with more details.
Plant-based meats are good for the planet—but what about your health?
Fortune online
2024-05-17
D. Julian McClements, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food Science at UMass Amherst, comments in an article asking if plant-based foods are good for human health as well as for the environment. “People think that if it’s plant-based, it’s healthy or healthier, and that certainly can be, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be,” McClements says.
A look at the top science stories and breakthroughs of 2023
PBS Newshour tv
2024-01-05
Julian McClements, distinguished professor of food science at UMass Amherst, says lab-grown meat, which received FDA approval in 2023, “has potential to create a more healthy, sustainable and ethical food supply.” McClements’ comments are in an article on the top science breakthroughs of 2023.
Vegan cheese made from fermented peas could taste more like dairy
New Scientist online
2023-10-24
Food scientist David Julian McClements of UMass Amherset comments in an article about vegan cheese made from fermented peas that may taste more like dairy cheese.
Plant-Based Meat Challenges, Quality Pet Food Demand, Sensory Tech Toolkit
Institute of Food Technologists online
2023-02-14
UMass Distinguished Professor Julian McClements shares insight into the state-of-the-science when it comes to developing meat analogues that will resonate with consumers.
How sustainable are fake meats?
Knowable Magazine online
2022-07-20
Professor David Julian McClements discusses his work to create realistic textures in plant-based meat substitutes in a story examining efforts to make products like Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat not only taste and feel like the real thing but also have far lighter environmental footprints.
Stress-testing sausages may give vegan products a meat-like mouthfeel
NewScientist online
2022-04-12
David Julian McClements comments on how stress-testing sausages may help make eating vegan products feel more like eating meat.
Massachusetts' food scientists work to improve the texture of meat alternatives
WCVB-TV tv
2022-03-15
UMass Amherst's David Julian McClements says it's critical that we create a sustainable food supply because the global population is growing and we have to feed all these people without damaging the planet for future generations
Have We Reached Peak Plant Milk? Not Even Close.
The New York Times online
2022-03-01
David Julian McClements says plant-based foods are “a really hot topic at the moment,” says McClements, whose research in the last five years has focused entirely on plant-based foods “because that is one of the main trends in the food industry at the moment for sustainability, ethical and health reasons.”
Why plant-based doesn’t necessarily mean healthy
New Food magazine online
2021-06-07
Distinguished Professor David Julian McClements is the author of a paper in the new Nature journal, “Science of Food,” that explores how food scientists are focusing on ways to create healthier, better-tasting and more sustainable plant-based protein products that mimic meat, fish, milk, cheese and eggs.
Select Publications (4)
How to be a Successful Scientist: A Guide for Graduate Students, Postdocs, and Professors
BOOK | SpringerDavid Julian McClements , Jake McClements , Isobelle Farrell McClements
2024-04-26
This book provides important advice to scientists at all stages of their careers on how to be a more effective and impactful researcher. It provides tips on: designing, performing, and analyzing experiments; writing, submitting and revising manuscripts; preparing and giving scientific talks and posters; writing grant proposals; and writing and defending a graduate thesis. It also provides advice on soft skills, like communication, networking, creativity, critical thinking, and working in teams
Meat Less: The Next Food Revolution
BOOK | SpringerDavid Julian McClements
2023-03-25
David Julian McClements writes, "In Meat Less: The Next Food Revolution I outline my own journey as a food scientist who became a vegetarian in solidarity with my daughter. In writing this book I take the viewpoint that there are no easy answers and that everyone must make the decision to eat meat or not based on their own values."
Next-Generation Plant-based Foods: Design, Production, and Properties
BOOK | SpringerDavid Julian McClements and Lutz Grossmann
2022-05-07
Next-Generation Plant-based Foods: Design, Production and Properties presents the science and technology behind the design, production, and utilization of plant-based foods.
Future Foods: How Modern Science Is Transforming the Way We Eat
BOOK | CopernicusDavid Julian McClements
2019-04-30
We are in the midst of an unprecedented era of rapid scientific and technological advances that are transforming the way our foods are produced and consumed.
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