Google has found a special use for the photos we take of our food

The business of taking photos of your food is so large that there's even a catchy term to describe it - "foodography."

Google tried to tap into the foodography trend earlier this year with an experimental service attached to Google+ called Tablescape. The food-focused social network only got to the testing phase and was shuttered before an official launch.

Now Google is testing a new Google Maps feature that lets you tie certain photos to the place where they were taken, Android Police reports. The feature will alert users when Maps has found a new photo taken at a public place that might interest other users. It will then offer to attach that photo to the location so other users can see it.

Right now Google is rolling out the feature to its "Local Guides" - people who write reviews of the places where they eat, drink or shop for Google. Android Police picked up an email sent out to guides who have contributed more than 50 reviews to the Local Guides programme. The email mentions notifications that "show up after you've taken a photo in public places that Google thinks are interesting to other people, like restaurants and bars."

It doesn't actually specify that only photos of food will be flagged up, so the unnamed feature might attach other snaps to Maps too. It does call for guides to upload photos of their "epic meals" though, so it's safe to say that if it ever goes live the feature will be fairly food-focused.