Department of Food Science & Technology
110 Parker Food Science & Technology Bldg.
2015 Fyffe Road
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone: (614) 292-6281 FAX: (614) 292-0218
E-mail webmaster: fst@osu.edu
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Department of Food Science & Technology |
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Food Science Student Helps Create New Restaurant Item Writer: Martha Filipic Source: Sarah Herringshaw, Food Science and Technology Tim Tomasek, Total Ultimate Foods COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The next time you indulge in Roasted Caramel Apple Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes at Bob Evans, thank a Buckeye. An Ohio State University food science student helped develop the apple caramel sauce that helps define the new menu item. Sarah Herringshaw, in the Department of Food Science and Technology in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, started an internship at Total Ultimate Foods, Inc., last summer and remains working there part-time. Total Ultimate Foods is one of the nation's leading manufacturers of dry food products. "This was one of the first products I worked on," said Herringshaw, a senior from Bowling Green, Ohio. "It started out as a glaze -- we thought they might be able to use it for a baked apple side dish. But when we presented it to Bob Evans, they thought it might be better for something else." Herringshaw's supervisor, Tim Tomesek, is vice president of research and development for the company on Columbus' west side. "Most of our work is customer-driven, but sometimes we come up with ideas just to see what sticks," Tomesek said. "Usually, we present a complete idea, but this time we just put the sauce together and said, 'We're not sure what you might want to use it for.'" After Bob Evans officials expressed interest, Herringshaw and Tomesek went back to the kitchen and made some refinements. "When we found out they were thinking of using it on a pancake, we knew it had to be thicker," Herringshaw said. Since working at Total Ultimate Foods, Herringshaw has learned that developing a new food product involves "a lot of trial and error," she said. "You start out evaluating a food on its flavor, thickness, viscosity, mouth feel, and most important, its color," she said. "Color is the biggest factor. And it's very tedious -- trying to get from beige to tan can be painstaking. But it's the first impact a food has on a consumer. If it doesn't look right, no one will eat it." The Roasted Caramel Apple Cream Stacked and Stuffed Hotcakes must look right. According to Bob Evans Farms Inc., they are the No. 1 selling variety of the new menu item. The stacked and stuffed hotcakes are served at nearly 600 Bob Evans Restaurants in 18 states. Total Ultimate Foods offers more than 100 premium dry-mix products for the foodservice industry, including cheese sauces, gravies, soups and seasonings. Many products are standard items offered to any buyer, but the company also creates custom-made products both in response to industry requests and to market to potential buyers. As a food science student, Herringshaw always suspected she might end up in research and development, "but it wasn't until I really got into this that I was sure," she said. "I never thought it would be this involved, or this much fun." Unlike other colleges, every undergraduate in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences must have an internship before graduating. For more information on the college, see http://cfaes.osu.edu. For more information on the Department of Food Science and Technology, see http://fst.osu.edu. |
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Department of Food Science & Technology 110 Parker Food Science & Technology Bldg. 2015 Fyffe Road Columbus, OH 43210 Phone: (614) 292-6281 FAX: (614) 292-0218 E-mail webmaster: fst@osu.edu |