The amount of interesting methods that allow surface characterisation of food powders, both those recently used and in development, are growing. Until now, a major problem facing researchers and manufacturers was the lack of a central source of information to provide practical knowledge focused only on food powder surfaces and form. The first goal of this review is to present recent and innovating methodologies used to characterize the surface and form of various food powders. In addition, relationships between food powders surfaces (surface energy, composition, structure, etc.) as well as form and functional properties (wettability, caking, flowability, etc.) are highlighted. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.