Top 30 Food Innovations in 2008 H1 Edit

This delicious gallery showcases the top 30 food trends and innovations in 2008.

But, be warned, with fresh baked heads and canned cheeseburgers making the list, you might lose your appetite. 

This is one of many features in our new FREE Micro Trend Reports section.

Top 30 Food Trends

1. Fresh Baked Heads (GALLERY)

Believe it or not Artist Kittiwat Unarrom who has a family baking business is baking heads and other body parts. Does that seem gruesome? You probably would be relieved if I told you that those heads… [More]

2. Tailgate Dining - The Exhaust Cooked Burger

A team of Iranian designers came up with this brilliant cooking idea which actually isn’t as disgusting as it first looks. Your car’s exhaust is used as a barbecue to grill your food! That still sounds… [More]

3. Morbid Candy - The Chocolate Newborn Hoax (GALLERY)

Oh my God, these fake chocolate newborn babies are so realistic and creepy! The collection features various positions and styles; yawning babies, sleeping babies, boys, girls… I believe they would… [More]

4. Vertical Farming (Part III) - Toronto Sky Farm (GALLERY)

There are several vertical farms proposed from major cities around the world. We’ve already told you about the one being built in Las Vegas, now here’s one that’s been proposed for Toronto.  SKYFarm,… [More]

5. Billboards Made of Lettuce - McDonald’s Growing Fresh Salads Ad (VIDEO)

This unique growing outdoor billboard by Leo Burnett, which promotes McDonald’s health-conscious menu items, just won a Gold at New York Festivals’ Innovative Advertising Awards. The garden billboard… [More]

6. Transformer Coffee Cups - Multicultural En Terrasse / To Go Mug (GALLERY)

While coffee is a universal drink, different cultures have different rituals and ways of drinking it. For example, while most people in New York City would have their coffee “to go” and drink it on… [More]

7. Cheese Made of Breast Milk - Human Cheese (VIDEO)

If the thought of adults drinking human breast milk make you cringe, what about the thought of eating fermented human breast milk on your crackers? The video shows exactly where Human Cheese, a new social… [More]

8. Top 15 Creative Cakes + Instructables Contest (SUPER GALLERY)

Scrap tradition, get creative! These cakes are ultra innovative! Some people follow recipes, but really creative people know that the best thing they could ever bake comes from tossing the book aside… [More]

9. Canned Cheeseburger - Junk Food With 12 Month Shelf Life

To me thinking of camping food brings on images of dehydrated space style food with ice cream being the most exciting thing on offer. However, Swiss-based company Katadyn have begun to change all of that… [More]

10. Chocolates Printed With Calorie Counts - Rompicollo

If you are watching your caloric intake but want to indulge in an “informed” guilty pleasure, I have the perfect chocolate for you. “Rompicollo” by L’Agenzia per il Disegno e la Funzione is a tablet… [More]

11. Room Made Entirely from Chocolate - Oh My Godiva

Godiva unveiled a room made entirely from chocolate in Manhatten this week. And it really is simply ALL chocolate. For example, opening the books will reveal piles of chocolates and not words. Lighting… [More]

12. Lickable Ads - Welch’s Grape Juice

Scratch and sniff is so ‘90s. Marketers for Welch’s have gotten a lot more savvy when trying to appeal to the senses of their customers. The company has launched a new lickable ad campaign for their grape… [More]

13. To Do List Temp Tattoo - A Reason to Scribble on Your Skin

Ever find yourself using your skin as a piece of paper to write down a name of a song you hear on the radio and want to download, or maybe a shopping list? Here’s a little something cool and different… [More]

14. Spill Camouflage - Puke Pet (GALLERY)

If you are a messy eater, then you’ve got to get these Puke Pet pins by designers Miss Geschick & Lady Lapsus. The Puke Pet disguises the stains that result from your less-than-perfect eating habits.… [More]

15. Turn Your Gum Into Origami Art - Gum Flower

As a motivation not to spit your gum into the street, designer Jung-taek Choi has created the Gum Flower. The Gum Flower’s wrapper is a piece of origami. Once you are done with your gum, you fold the wrapper… [More]

16. 24 Foods You Can Customize - From Peanuts to Ice Cream

You can customize just about everything today, including food. People don’t mind paying a premium for these customized products because the concept is still so new to most people, making it a sure fire… [More]

17. 44 Surprising Things You Can Eat - From Gold Pills to Deodorant

While candy necklaces and chocolate cigarettes have been confectionery novelties for decades, a range of new innovations are arising that turn things ordinarily not for consumption into unique, edible… [More]

18. Garbage Seafood - Shock Visuals For Clean Seas (GALLERY)

As a seafood lover, these ads really spoke to me. The photography is exceptional, and at a glance, one might not notice the horrors hidden within each image. A closer look shows that the sushi is not… [More]

19. Mashed Potato Cones - Aunt Bessie’s All-Weather Alternative to 99 Flake

Aunt Bessie’s has launched the “banger & mash in a cone” the all-weather alternative to the 99 Flake. It may look like a 99 Flake from afar, but it’s just the latest sign of the British adapting… [More]

20. Champagne Sandwich Spread - Limited Edition Marmite

What do Marmite and Champagne have in common? Likely nothing if it weren’t for the limited edition production of Lover’s Marmite containing a hint of champagne. Launched just in time for Valentines Days,… [More]

21. Offensive Candy - Fat Pig Chocolate

You want to lose weight, but every time a piece of chocolate comes your way, you just can’t seem to resist temptation, am I right? The Brooklyn Brothers are offering you a new approach, but be warned,… [More]

22. Extremely Personalized Cake - Bride Serves Herself to Guests

Proving that everything is bigger in Texas, lone star bride Chidi Ogbuta had her likeness made into a cake for her wedding day.  She said it was her childhood dream to have a full sized version of herself… [More]

23. Finger Bling For Coffee Drinkers- Japanese cUp Ling (GALLERY)

Darren Almond makes simple yet elegant coffee mugs for all you singles who like to show off their bling. It’s called the cUp Ling and it’s a coffee mug that comes with an attachable ring for your finger.… [More]

24. Designer Bags for Fruit 2 - Hermès Apple (GALLERY)

Hermès knows that in order to look really great, you have to take care of your health. That’s why they’ve come up this chic Apple bag! The protective case is built specifically to keep your apples perfectly… [More]

25. Sexy Urban Legends for Marketing - All Green M&Ms;

Companies all over the world are leveraging whatever green traits their product or service can offer, and now, so is a famous candy brand… just not in the way you’d think. Nope, the Valentines campaign… [More]

26. $1,000 Sushi - Foie Gras High Roller at Koi

I’m a passionate sushi connoisseur, but even I couldn’t fathom spending $1,000 on a roll. Apparently the chefs at Koi in New York didn’t have customers like me in mind when concocting the High Roller,… [More]

27. Portable Espresso Maker - Handpresso Wild (VIDEO)

Espresso snob? If so, then you’re likely very apprehensive to stop for a Tim Horton’s on the road, you may even opt to skip that caffeine fix altogether if you know you can’t get a good brew. Thanks… [More]

28. Cake on a Stick - DIY Cakesicle

These little treats may look like pink lollipops at first glance, but trying to suck on them might not work so well; they’re soft as cake! Cakesicles are actually easy to make; all you need is cake mix… [More]

29. Space Produce - Mega Veggies Could End World Hunger (GALLERY)

I wonder if these things have Air Miles? Mega Veggies are grown from seeds that were fired into space, where for two weeks, they orbited the Earth. Once returned, the seeds are cultivated in hothouses… [More]

30. Food Shaped Soap For Chefs - Bathropolitan Soap Bars (GALLERY)

I would love to recommend these creations for chefs, home cooks, and fabulous gift givers. Bathropolitan New York City Soap Crafters was inspired by my brother, who has been a chef in some of the top… [More]