Dr. Jonathan Deutsch founded the Drexel Food Lab in spring 2014 with the goal of creating a research center that allows students and faculty the ability to partner with industry, nonprofits and government entities to solve real-world food-systems problems through food product development and culinary innovation. Current project areas include sustainability (through food-waste reduction), health promotion and inclusive dining.

The lab and its culinary students have been a national leader in developing safe, healthy and affordable food products from recovered foods, or food waste. For example, the Food Lab collaborated with Baldor Specialty Foods to develop applications for a dried-vegetable blend; it invented a meat substitute using plant byproducts; and it worked with the company Love Beets to create applications for a beet powder made from beet seconds.