Food Science

color changing marshmallows
// Wednesday, July 19, 2023 Tom Kuntzleman
Jet-Puffed color changing marshmallows are an interesting new product that is available on the shelves of grocery stores through the end of September.1 The color of these marshmallows changes when exposed to heat: the blue version turns green, while the pink version turns orange.
text over bottles of food dye: Titration with Food Dyes
// Sunday, November 28, 2021 Tom Kuntzleman
Recently, Anne Schmidt and I published an article together in the Journal of Chemical Education.1 The article outlines a titration activity that students can carry out at home using only store-bought items. The objective of the activity is to determine the amount of Mg(OH)2 in milk of magnesia.
Blue Powerade turning green and yellow
// Wednesday, August 18, 2021 Tom Kuntzleman
In Chemical Mystery #18: Peek A Boo Blue,1 Blue Powerade is observed to change to green, and then to a yellow color. When the yellow-colored solution is disturbed by pouring it, it shifts back to green or blue-green.
text: Colorful Candy Chemistry
// Monday, February 8, 2021 Tom Kuntzleman
Have you seen the rainbow candy experiment? It's a very simple experiment that involves pouring water into a plate that has M&M's candies or Skittles arranged in a pattern. Very curious shapes of sharply divided regions form spontaneously. How does this happen?! 
What is the pressure in a soda?
// Tuesday, December 8, 2020 Tom Kuntzleman
Bottles of soda are sealed under high pressures of CO2, or PCO2. This causes a substantial amount of CO2 to dissolve into the beverage, giving the drink its fizziness. But what exactly is the pressure inside a bottle of soda?
Coke and Mentos Color Changes
// Wednesday, September 2, 2020 Tom Kuntzleman
If you know me, you know that I love the Diet Coke and Mentos reaction. It’s so simple to carry out, but yields incredible results! Just drop a few Mentos candies into a bottle of a carbonated beverage and watch the magic take place! See video 1.
alpha maltose
// Sunday, July 5, 2020 Jerry Godbout
Humans discovered the agriculture of cereal grains, developed communities around their fields, and promptly began brewing.
Blueberries with text: Why blueberries change color
// Sunday, January 26, 2020 Tom Kuntzleman
Berries are red, berries are blue…I’ve got a berry surprise for you! DESCRIPTION: I observe a red to blue color change when I rinse my bowl after eating frozen blueberries. Sounds like an acid-base reaction, doesn’t it? Read on to learn about the blueberry surprise!
sparking marshmallow
// Thursday, September 27, 2018 Tom Kuntzleman
At the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education (BCCE) in Notre Dame this summer, Holly Walter-Kerby and Maria Gallardo-Williams unveiled an event called The Mole.
Person on scale
// Tuesday, April 24, 2018 Tom Kuntzleman
If you want to lose weight, you have to burn calories. Anyone who has gone on a diet knows this. But when someone loses weight, have you ever wondered where the lost mass goes?