Ohio Ag Connection - Buckeye Food Science Team Gets Top Honor

Ohio Ag News Headlines

Buckeye Food Science Team Gets Top Honor
Ohio Ag Connection - 07/30/2010

A team of food science students from Ohio State University won a national product development competition last week at the annual meeting of the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago.

"It was great," said team member Luca Serventi, a graduate student in Ohio State's Department of Food Science and Technology. "This was the 20th year of the competition, and it's the first time Ohio State won. We were proud."

Finalists from six universities participated in the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association competition, sponsored by Mars. The contest is designed to showcase the students' ability to apply knowledge and skills they have learned to develop a new food idea from conception to marketing and production.

The Ohio State team developed a gluten-free snack called "Coccobello," a shelf-stable mini cannoli coated in dark chocolate and coconut and filled with a light lime mousse -- "combining the luxury of a European dessert with the exotic flavors of the tropics."

They began development work in November 2009, trying different formulations until they found one that worked. Along with teams from five other universities, they were named in March as finalists in the competition.

At the competition, they gave an oral presentation about their product and answered judges' questions, presented a poster session on the development of the product, and created samples for the judges to taste.

Serventi said the judges seemed especially impressed with the complexity of the product and the teamwork evident among the nine students.

"We were able to address all of the challenges we came across. And we really learned how to work together as a team. Each team member had different technical skills and personalities -- one might be more science-based, another more focused on the business end; one might be a perfectionist and another more interested in getting things done quickly -- but we all helped each other meet the challenges we encountered. The judges seemed impressed that it wasn't just one or two of us who decided everything -- everyone on the team was in charge of something important."

The team is working with Ohio State to patent their invention, not necessarily to market it themselves, but to protect their creation and ensure that anyone who wishes to take it to the marketplace gives them and the university proper recognition.

The team received a $1,000 travel grant for being named a finalist and a $4,000 cash award for winning the competition.

Team members included Joseph Jones, a graduate research associate who led the team and is currently on a summer internship with NASA in Houston, and Amrish Chawla, Bryan Finfrock, Kim Orleans, Natalie Pendleton, Brittni Treichler, Jenna Wlotzko and Jia Wei Yeap. All are undergraduate or graduate students in the Department of Food Science and Technology in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.