featured in this issue - NZIFST - The New Zealand Institute of Food ...

NZIFST
Manawatu Science Fair
The following three exhibits were chosen to win the NZIFST prizes for
the best food technology exhibits
Winner: Drinkable Grains
Runners-up: Vitamin C Tango, and Pro-Recovery
Comments:
Overall many of the projects were a very high standard and it was a
tough decision to select a winner from the best three projects, which
in turn were difficult to differentiate from the next group.
Drinkable Grains
This project won because it had a bit more of the “Wow” factor than
the other two. It was a successful product development project that
was well researched and implemented as well as being very well presented.
It was driven by a need to develop a palatable way of eating
food fibre and the student understood the value proposition and the
technical hurdles. The student used available resources very effectively
and spoke very knowledgeably about the project as well as answering
questions very effectively. The sample drinks were delicious!
Vitamin C Tango
This project was food science rather than technology and it stood out
from other projects on Vitamin C because of the complexity and thoroughness
of the work. Degradation of Vitamin C by heat, air and light
was comprehensively assessed, with well-designed, controlled and
replicated trials. The amount of work carried out was very impressive
as was the way it was presented in both the poster and the project
notebook. The student had a detailed understanding of all aspects of
the work and answered questions very thoroughly. Very professional.
Pro-Recovery
This is a large Crest Award project carried out by four students over the
year. This was an ambitious product development project that aimed
to develop a sports recovery drink based on yoghurt. The amount of
work carried out, using the Massey Sport faculty facilities, was very
impressive and well presented. This type of project is not easy because
it depends on measuring the limits of athletic performance with and
without the recovery drink. The limited number of subjects (12) meant
that the variation between individuals was too large to allow any significant
effect of the sports drink to be measured and the students knew
that they needed a much larger sample size. The product development
was successful in meeting the sensory targets (it was liked). Again all
of the students understood their work extremely well, spoke very effectively
and answered questions thoroughly and well. The only weakness
was the sample size which may have prevented the project from
measuring a significant benefit from their product.
Finally, I would like to thank my team of judges who generously gave
their time and impressive range of expertise for the evening. We
worked very well together, thoroughly enjoyed our discussions with
the students, and reached a unanimous consensus after much goodhumoured
and informed discussion.
Euan Cant
Wellington Science Fair
The judges were Sally Hasell, John van den Beuken and Irene Thomas.
There were about 75 food related projects, well down on previous
years (usually more than 100), despite the total number of entries being
higher than previous years. However we were spared the mouldy
bread projects which was a pleasant change and still had plenty of
good quality projects to chose from.
The winner of the Branch prize was Rachael Brownlee (Year 8), Sacred
Heart Primary, with a project called ‘Can you tell?’ which looked at
whether consumers could tell the difference between a low fat and a
regular product across a variety of foods, from dairy products to crackers.
Rachael had a good grasp of the potential for the results to be
influenced by the fact that fat level is often not the only change made
in a low fat or ‘lite’ version of a product. She found that while adults
expressed a preference in advance for a higher fat version, they did
not necessarily identify this product correctly by tasting. She noted that
younger consumers had often been exposed to low fat and ‘lite’ versions
of foods much of their lives and were less likely to express a
preference for higher fat versions. In general consumers were as likely
to be right as to be wrong in deciding which product was which in
taste testing.
Highly commended prizes went to Sera Rawson, Year 8 Korokoro
School with a project called ‘Flour Power’. She compared cupcakes
made with two proprietary brands of gluten free flour, her own mix
of gluten free ingredients and found that the commercial brands were
well accepted but one had a much higher acceptance rate than the
other and her own mix (based on an internet recipe) was not a great
success.
The other highly commended prize went to a Year 7 student, Zoe Bennett
(Evans Bay Intermediate) who had done a simple but very well
presented and clear project (Gelatine Desserts) to demonstrate that
some fruits contain enzymes that interfere with gelation.
There were several other projects on food which won science fair
prizes, and the judges had a hard job deciding to whom to award
the industry prizes. There are several potential food scientists in local
schools!
Sally Hasell
Photo: Wayne Barrar
Food TesTing
ENSurING yOur PrOduCtS’ INtEGrIty ANd QuALIty
• Method development
and validation team
• IANZ (ISO)
accreditation
• GMP certified for
Nutraceuticals
• Label claims
• Food safety
• Shelf life testing
• Vitamin testing
• Export certification
Cawthron Institute
Ph: +64 3 548 2319
lab@cawthron.org.nz
www.cawthron.org.nz
October/November 2011 39