RG
raimundo garcia del moral
University of Granada
Granada, Spain
About this Research Topic
Manuscript Submission Deadline 18 January 2027
This Research Topic is currently accepting articles
Background
Contemporary food systems face a profound paradox: never before have we produced so much food or accumulated so much knowledge about nutrition, yet malnutrition, the loss of dietary diversity, the erosion of culinary identities and the ecological degradation of the environments where food is produced and consumed remain unresolved challenges. In this context, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies have emerged as tools with transformative potential for human nutrition, public health and gastronomic culture, but also as forces that raise critical questions about equity, food autonomy and the genuine sustainability of the systems they aim to improve.
Gastronomy is undergoing a paradigm shift driven by the convergence of AI, computational tools and the design of sensory experiences. From machine-learning algorithms that personalise dietary interventions or molecular flavour pairings, to tools that map food environments and model consumer behaviour, these technologies are reshaping both individual eating behaviours and large-scale food systems. At the same time, they are redefining how people psychologically perceive food, respond emotionally to it and make decisions about it — altering appetite regulation, flavour processing and dietary quality. The key question is not merely what AI can do, but to what extent these capabilities translate into better nutritional outcomes, greater well-being and fairer, more resilient food systems.
Beyond the individual, AI and digital tools are redefining sustainability, cultural legitimacy and the security of food systems with direct implications for planetary boundaries and Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3, 12 and 13. The emergence of regenerative and post-digital gastronomic models, which combine ecological adaptability, cultural food heritage and the reduction of environmental impact, challenges conventional technocentric narratives and opens up a genuinely interdisciplinary field of research. By linking digital algorithms with territorial food systems (the gathering of wild foods, local biodiversity, and culturally rooted culinary practices), AI is also redefining the role of the chef and culinary institutions: no longer as the sovereign creator of dishes, but as a mediator between cultural memory, algorithms, territory and sensory experience. This reconfiguration is not merely aesthetic; it has direct consequences for the preservation of food diversity, cultural identity and the health of communities.
This Research Topic provides an inclusive and interdisciplinary forum at the intersection of AI, food science, gastronomy and the cognitive, cultural and ecological dimensions of food. It addresses the gap between the growing body of literature on AI in food technology and the, as yet, largely unexplored implications of these tools for human nutrition, food autonomy and cultural food systems, adopting a critical perspective that also questions the limits, risks and unfulfilled promises of gastronomic digitalisation. All contributions, regardless of their methodological approach, must demonstrate clear relevance to human nutrition or the well-being of food systems; computational and data-driven studies must include appropriate empirical validation.
Topics of interest include:
● Personalised nutrition and public health: machine learning for modelling dietary behaviour, predicting health outcomes, and precision dietary interventions with an impact on populations.
● Digital food environments and nutritional equity: social media, algorithmic marketing and recommendation platforms that influence diet and public health, including their varying effects depending on socio-economic and cultural context.
● AI-driven culinary creativity: recipe generation, flavour pairing and menu design that influence nutritional quality, dietary diversity and the dining experience.
● Multisensory perception of food and eating behaviour: how AI-mediated environments shape taste, appetite and food preferences.
● Regenerative and post-digital gastronomy: AI and digital tools in the service of ecologically adaptable, culturally rooted systems that are compatible with planetary boundaries.
● Food memory and cultural identity: culinary heritage as a shaper of dietary patterns and nutritional status in the digital age, and the risks of its erosion.
● Consumer behaviour and culinary mediation: chefs, platforms and algorithms as mediators of food choice and nutritional literacy.
● Ethical, social and public health implications: equity in access to the benefits of AI in the food sector, consumer autonomy and the governance of digital food systems.
● Food security, quality and nutritional labelling: AI across the value chain, with a particular focus on its contribution to SDGs 2, 12 and 13.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
- Brief Research Report
- Case Report
- Clinical Trial
- Conceptual Analysis
- Data Report
- Editorial
- FAIR² Data
- General Commentary
- Hypothesis and Theory
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Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Personalized nutrition, Eating behavior, Cultural food heritage, Sustainable food systems, Nutritional ecology, Multisensory perception
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