By Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.
Cornell's student food product development team is a finalist in the prestigious Institute of Food Technologists' (IFT) national competition and is hoping for a three-peat.
The Cornell team, which has been one of six finalists for three consecutive years, won the competition last year and the year before. This year, team members must make sure a "shelf-stable" crepe filled with apple slices lasts on the grocer's shelf for three months and tastes good.
They will defend last year's food competition, won with "Stir-Ins," the coffee-stirring flavorant-cookie stick. In 1995, the Cornell team won with "Pizza Pop-Ups," a stand-up, toaster-ready pizza. This year, the team is entering "Swiss Crepes," a rolled crepe filled with apple slices and cinnamon, fortified with vitamins for a nutritious breakfast or snack.
Winners will be announced June 16 at the IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Orlando, Fla., held June 14-18.
Could Swiss Crepes be the next technological marvel? Only the judges will tell for sure. Student food scientists had to deal with moisture migration -- so the crepes don't turn soggy -- and the problem of giving an off-the-shelf crepe and the apples a shelf life of three months. But they think they've got the problems licked.
The members of the Cornell Food Product Development Team are: Alberto Acedo, graduate student in agricultural economics, from Caracas, Venezuela; Ji Hwa Choi, junior, from Lansdale, Pa.; Henry Cortez, junior, from Reston, Va.; Kathryn Deibler, graduate student in food science, Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; John Hayes, junior, from Syracuse, N.Y.; Cathy Kobayashi, graduate student in food science, from Lewisburg, Pa.; Sam Nugen, senior, from Poughkeepsie, N.Y.; Beth Presutti, freshman, from Arlington Heights, Ill.; Melanie Tudhope, junior, Orwell, Vt.; Praveen Vadi, graduate student in food science, from Hyderabad, India.; and Catherine Vuong , senior, from Harrison, N.Y.
Five other university teams to compete in the finals, with their product names, are: the University of California at Davis, "Raspberry Wisdom"; the University of Georgia, "Apple Crunchers"; Iowa State University, "Pizza Sweets"; Kansas State University, "Waf-fills"; and the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, "Twist Steak."
In Orlando for the competition, the teams will give public product presentations, product demonstrations to expert panelists and a poster presentation.