Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Congratulations to Jingyi Xue on having her research paper published in Food Hydrocolloids. The article, entitled "Development of novel biopolymer-based dendritic nanocomplexes for encapsulation of phenolic bioactive compounds: A proof-of-concept study", reports our research findings that demonstrate an innovative strategy to develop dendritic nanoparticles from food biopolymers without using organic solvents or synthetic chemical. The food biopolymers used in this study include phytoglycogen and zein, carbohydrate and protein respectively, both from corn. Antimicrobial phytochemicals are encapsulated into such nanoparticles which exhibited significantly improved bioactivity, including higher antioxidant activity and stronger antibacterial efficacy against foodborne human pathogens. The potential of these nanocomplexes as carriers for lipophilic and phenolic antimicrobial compounds opens up new avenues for nanotechnology enabled approaches to ensure food safety and quality. Please read the article here.
Congratulations to Bai Qu on having her review paper published in Carbohydrate Polymer Technologies and Applications, a new Open Access journal companion to the well-established and prestigious journal Carbohydrate Polymers. The article entitled "A review on the preparation and characterization of chitosan-clay nanocomposite films and coatings for food packaging applications", provides an overview of fabrication methods that are specifically applied for the preparation of chitosan-clay nanocomposite films and coatings, and then summarizes the advances made in the most recent five years for their food packaging applications. Please read the article here.
Congratulations to Bai Qu on having her first research paper published in Food Chemistry, a prestigious journal in the field of food science. The article, entitled "Self-assembled caseinate-laponite® nanocomposites for curcumin delivery", described a novel method to prepare a self-assembled protein-nanoclay system for curcumin delivery. The as-prepared sodium caseinate-laponite (NaCas-LAP) composites were characterized for colloidal properties and encapsulation capabilities, as well as antioxidant activities. Please read the article here.
Congratulations to Wusigale on publishing a new research paper in International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, from the research during her visit at UConn. The article entitled "Partition and stability of folic acid and caffeic acid in hollow zein particles coated with chitosan" reports a study on the preparation of chitosan-coated hollow zein particles using calcium phosphate as a sacrificing template for co-encapsulation of folic acid and caffeic acid. Partition, photostability, and antioxidant capacity of bioactive compounds were comprehensively studied. Findings in this study shed some light on the design of carriers for co-delivery of hydrophilic compounds in acidic condition. Read the article here.