The advances in methodologies for carbohydrate analysis allowed to revisit theirstructures, rendering available a better knowledge of food raw materials and derived products. In a close collaboration between academia and industry, new food ingredients, formulations, and technologies to produce healthy, tasty, affordable, and appealing processed foods are under development taking advantage of carbohydrate properties.

Examples of the challenge and solutions achieved so far for clean label strategies include the use of inulin-rich tuberous root and derived fructooligosaccharides that can replace sucrose added in processed jams for use in dairy products [1], the increment of soluble dietary fibre and oligosaccharides in apple and pear juices, the revisiting of the antioxidant activity of polysaccharides [2] and their interaction with phenolic compounds [3], and the brewers’ spent yeast mannoprotein and glucan structural characteristics [4] and related applications [5]. The relevance of transglycosylation reactions in honey [6] and coffee brew carbohydrates [7] will be also discussed taking into account their relevance for the development of functional foods.

Innovation in food can also benefit by the enrolment of students in food industry practical cases. The organization of national and European food innovation competitions in the aim of ECOTROPHELIA (https://eu.ecotrophelia.org/), a European Organization that attributes awards to European higher education students for their innovation in food, creates an environment able to promote entrepreneurship and competitiveness envisioning the future of European food industry.