FoodProcessing.com Debuts Ingredient Wiki

FoodProcessing.com ushers in the new year with an addition to the site: an Ingredient Wiki. 

A wiki, in case you’re wondering, is a community-supported mechanism that allows web site users to contribute content. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/) is probably the most famous one. Our wiki currently contains a few dozen ingredients, descriptions and related terms. But we need more. A lot more. Before we ask your help in populating it, you should give it a try.

First, it’s alphabetized; you can look up everything from anthocyanins to zeaxanthine. Don’t know your alpha-linolenic acid from your alpha-lipoic acid? Look ’em up here. You can find the wiki on FoodProcessing.com in one of three ways: by the URL http://community.foodprocessing.com/ingredients-glossary; from our drop down menu (Topics > Ingredients & Formulation > Ingredients Wiki); or by looking mid-way down the front page of our site.

Actually, it doesn’t have everything from A to Z. That’s where you come in. We want you to contribute to our Ingredient Wiki, to help grow it. If you’re expert enough in a topic, please help define other ingredients for us. Here’s how to do that:

• Create an account. To make changes to the wiki, you’ll need to log in to the Food Processing Community Site via the box in the upper right corner of the page. The registration is easy and takes only a minute.
• Find the place to add the ingredient. Using the A-Z directory, click on the letter you want to make the addition to.
• Create your addition. As a member of the Food Processing Community site you should be presented with two tabs: “View” and “Edit.” Once you’ve arrived at your letter, click “Edit.” You will be taken to a WYSIWYG screen where you can make your addition.

While we encourage everyone to use the wiki, we need to lay a few ground rules to make sure no one abuses the community:

• Please do not post images. We recognize that you might have an image of an ingredient. If this is the case, please send the image to me, the digital editor of FoodProcessing.com and I will make sure it gets posted.
• Please do not delete entries. If you have an alternative definition than what is posted, please indicate that with parentheses. For instance:

  
  Fiber – any of a group of indigestible plant polysaccharides, including cellulose, lignin, pectins, beta-glucans, inulin and oligosaccharides.
  Fiber (1) – Fibers promote intestinal health by normalizing transit time, decreasing exposure of the gut wall to carcinogens, and promoting the growth of healthy bacteria.

Most importantly, if you have any questions, please contact me and let me know how I can help you. Together, we can make this a valuable resource for the whole food and beverage manufacturing community.