"All of a sudden it's not pushback, " said Mr. Wansink, who directs Cornell's Food and Brand Lab.

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Brian Wansink, director of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab, studies how size and packaging affect consumption.

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The health department said that lab tests are being done on food and environmental samples as well.

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Tiny amounts of metal found in frozen drinks machines were similar to those found in food cooked in cast iron or stainless steel pans, according to independent lab tests, and posed no health risk, the firm added.

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In an effort to fill the ethnic food void in New Orleans, a group of local entrepreneurs founded Dinner Lab, a new dining experience that emphasizes on creating once in a lifetime dinner parties with up-and-coming chefs from around the city.

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Lab rats respond by seeking pleasure, including eating high-energy food.

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The team behind Dinner Lab scouts the city for chefs and sous chefs who specialize in ethnic food, then sets up dinner parties in remote locations to create an experience that feels more like a vacation than a pop up.

FORBES: A Food Evolution in New Orleans Sets Trends for Entrepreneurs in the Industry

In addition to pursuing sales of the Pixo in the developing world through 90 distributors, Dickinson sees plenty of opportunity for the machine in food safety and research labs in the U.S. Academic researchers must often wait to get time on a lab's PCR machine.

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