The Maillard reaction in food: Progress made, challenges ahead—Conference Report from the Eighth International Symposium on the Maillard Reaction

The Eighth International Symposium on the Maillard reaction marked the 25th anniversary of the first symposium and saw a change in focus away from food processing aspects, towards health and nutrition. In the medical arena, research into aging and diabetes has an increasingly broad scope, including human health, disease and nutrition. Thus, the boundaries between food scientists and medical researchers are becoming increasingly blurred, and a common goal of establishing the physiology and fate of Maillard reaction products absorbed from the diet or generated in vivo has emerged. This review highlights some new directions in Maillard research of relevance to food scientists that emerged during the conference.