CCN Magazine, CA
04-21-07
Food Science Seniors Unveil New Food Products
During the past semester, 23 food science students at Iowa State University
created, formulated, concept tested, consumer tested, color tested, shelf-life
tested, scaled up, processed, package designed and nutritionally labeled eight
new food products.
The new foods, including cinnamon roll ice cream, saffron-poached pears and
cheesy broccoli rice balls, will be unveiled on April 24 to food industry
representatives who serve on the board of directors of Dyscovry Foods, Inc.
That's another name for the food science and human nutrition senior capstone
course, Food Product Development.
Unlike other food science capstone courses, Iowa State's is set up like a
corporation. Students—"employees" of Dyscovry Foods—work in product
development teams, competing against each other to create innovative,
processable products that can succeed in the marketplace.
They've met each week for 8 to10 hours in a multi-kitchen laboratory, putting into
play the skills and knowledge learned along the way in courses like food
chemistry, food microbiology, food quality, sensory evaluation and processing.
"You get to apply all of your other classes to this course and it's pretty cool," said
Becky Jondle, a senior from Fort Dodge. "You learn by failure!"
Failure can come in the form of kiwis that turn to mush, butter powder with the
wrong plasticity, cheese that's too costly for mass production, corn starch that
isn't microwaveable or too many fat grams to be labeled a healthful food.
Students manage the challenges through substitutions and adjustments. And
with every change to the product formulation, there's more testing to do.
One thing's for sure. This is not a cooking class, said Trisha Terry, a senior from
Marion.
"When you're preparing foods in your kitchen, you're not thinking about the pH
level or how to make a product with a shelf life of 100 days," Terry said. "We
have to think about different preservatives. And we learn how to incorporate shelf
life without compromising flavor—keeping the quality there, but making it last.
These are things that normally don't cross your mind in the kitchen.
"I'm definitely learning a lot about all the little things you might not think about
while moving a product from the beginning idea stage all the way through
commercialization," she said.
In addition to the ice cream, rice balls and gourmet dessert pears, the student
teams created: berry-apple-kiwi fruit salsa with cinnamon crisps; five-cheese,
broccoli and wild rice soup; a soy-based, strawberry-filled cream puff; fortified,
whole-wheat pita chips with hummus dip; and an Indian-spiced, breaded, chicken
appetizer with cucumber-yogurt sauce.
The class is team taught by food science and human nutrition faculty who
function like corporate department managers: Ken Prusa (product development),
Deland Myers (processing), Lester Wilson (quality control), and Mark Love
(regulatory affairs.)
All of the students' product concepts were approved initially by the Dyscovry
Foods board. Representatives from Wells Blue Bunny, Marzetti Frozen Pasta,
Hy-Vee Foods, Tone's, Grain Processing Corp. and other companies also
provided guidance throughout the semester on flavor challenges, distribution
issues and marketing questions.
"We help students take a realistic look at the marketplace to make sure their
product isn't a 'me too' product, but something unique that fits an unfilled need in
the market," said Robin Kline, a food and nutrition consultant with Savvy Food
Communications, Des Moines.
And in the past, product concepts developed in Dyscovry Foods have landed on
grocery store shelves, Prusa said.
"I'm always amazed at the students' creativity. We challenge them to do
something that's not out there and they do it every year," he said.
"A few years ago, we had a group working on a raspberry vinaigrette spray salad
dressing," Prusa said. "We thought this was a really cool idea. You could just
spritz it on and control the calories. Our students called it Raspray. Just recently
a product like this came on the market."
And Hy-Vee Foods is interested in developing another product from this class,
called Short-cut shortcake.
Kline said because the class gives students experience in building life skills, it's
important to the food industry.
"They learn thinking on their feet, answering questions and challenges from
management, dealing with disappointment and re-grouping when a project
doesn't work," Kline said. "Students who get this challenge and experience are
better equipped to face real business problems. Bottom line, this class gives
students an edge."