MSU Team Pushes for Second Championship
4/1/08
Contact: Janice Harte
517- 355-8474, ext. 105
or
Francie Todd
517-432-1555, ext. 168
MSU Team Pushes for Second Championship
4/1/08
Contact: Janice Harte
517- 355-8474, ext. 105
or
Francie Todd
517-432-1555, ext. 168
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State University (MSU) has successfully passed the first round and is now poised for the finals in the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association (IFTSA) 2008 National Food Product Development Competition. The MSU Food Product Development Team, current reigning national champions, has advanced to become one of only six finalists headed for New Orleans, June 28 to July 3.
The MSU team’s new product, “Ready-to-Dough!”, is a refrigerated cookie dough targeted to consumers with common food allergies. The eight members of the team of students from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) are: team leaders Aileen Tanojo and Megan Schwannecke, both food science graduate students; food science undergraduate students Nichole Goldman, Eric Birmingham and Ashley Walters; food industry management undergraduate student Charles Pountney; packaging graduate student Raghav Sundar; and biosystems and agricultural engineering doctoral student Shantanu Kelkar. Janice Harte, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, is the team adviser, and Larry Zink, outreach coordinator for the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, provided marketing assistance.
Tanojo, Birmingham and Goldman were part of last year’s champion team. The remaining students were chosen for their areas of expertise, including formulation, engineering, packaging, marketing and business.
“Products that can demonstrate high potential for success in the marketplace are valued by the judges,” Harte said. “Product concepts originate with students in our food science capstone course. Then they are modified and improved by a cross-functional team of talented and committed students.”
Judges critique the process and product descriptions, technical problem solving, and product safety and shelf life, marketing and profitability. Harte noted that, when choosing the winner, judges also look for ingenuity in the products and whether they deliver on promises of great taste.
“Innovation and creativity are important,” Harte said. “The judges aren’t looking for just another flavor of an existing product -- they are looking for a product that addresses a consumer need that has not been met in the same way before.”
“Ready-to-Dough!” is a gluten-free chocolate chip cookie dough made with whole-grain quinoa flour and added fiber. The dough contains all nine essential amino acids and is targeted to consumers with allergies to wheat, eggs and dairy. Harte said that foods of this type are in increasing demand because of the growing number of people with food allergies. She stressed that these new products must also meet demands for nutrition, taste and convenience.
The award-winning project developed by last year’s eight-member team was Souper Snackers Chicken Noodle Bites, a chicken soup snack that put the soup inside the noodle. Last year was the first time the team received first-place honors after achieving three second-place finishes and being named finalists seven times.
Other finalists are the teams from Cornell University, Ohio State University, the University of Illinois -- Urbana Champaign, the University of Minnesota and Virginia Tech. The final six were selected from a field of 24 entries.
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