FST 696
TECHNICAL PROBLEM SOLVING
LONG TERM PROBLEMS
SPRING 2002
1. A
variety of accelerated shelf-life test have been developed for oxygen sensitive
vitamins. A company has an interest in
developing the best
approach to predict long-term effects of oxygen
exposure to speed degradation and comparing to a control.
3.
An Ohio
company is interested in achieving an extension to the ambient shelf-life of
cookies: This includes one or more of the following:
i. Moisture migration, understanding and
prevention.
ii. Staling and effects of starch retro
gradation.
iii. Rancidity, the prevention of, in nuts and
butter/fats
iv. Packaging, barrier materials and vapor
transmission. "Do we need a flexible can?"
4.
Food spoilage
and staling are primary concerns in the Bakery industry for providing consumers
convenient fresh bakery products such as Bread, Bagels, and English
Muffins. In order to have profitable
volume of production, storage, and distribution, long shelf life is always
needed/wanted by all parties who are working in the bakery industrial field.
Preservatives have been used in bakery products as anti-spoilage agents for
long time. However, unpleasant taste of current most functional preservatives
limits the usage of those preservatives.
How can we formulate extended shelf life baked good systems that taste
good?
5.
A food company, working with dry blended
products, has a problem with a flour based gravy. It is a beef flour
based gravy. When it is first cooked up, the product is fine. It is
smooth with little to no clumps. Upon refrigerating what is not used in
the day, the gravy is gelling into one big glob that is not pourable. The
product did not used to do this. It used to be semi-pourable with some
clumps. The product is then reheated in an oven at 375F for 1 hour.
The product is not smoothing out and the chunks remain. The product is reheated
in an aluminum half pan with aluminum foil on top.
6.
A Ohio company
has a problem with a meringue
product that is shrinking away from the side of the crust leaving about 1/8 -
1/2 inch gap between the meringue and the crust. They need to eliminate
this shrinkage. The problem is, the customer is using the meringue on an
award winning key lime pie that is baked in a spring form pan with the crust all
the way up the side. The meringue does not overlap the crust to form a
good seal, so subsequently, upon cooling, the meringue is pulling away from the
crust. The pie is baked in a convection oven. The time and
temperature may vary. After baking, the pie is allowed to sit at room
temperature until it is cool enough to be handled without gloves on. It
is then refrigerated to cool further. In the evening, the pie is placed
in a Tupperware container to keep out moisture. It is served the next day.
7.
The Yogurt market has evolved to a point where
increasing product differentiation is required to build market share. One point of differentiations that has great
consumer appeal is fruit quality.
Problems associated with the
yogurt fruit prep that the company uses includes dull color, poor fruit piece
identity and overcooked flavor. You
are being asked to find a way to eliminate these problems and retain a “cost-neutral”
position
8.
Functional foods that incorporate active ingredients from various
sources are a significant market phenomenon.
Your marketing director wants
you to develop an “energy”
beverage based on botanical ingredients.
The product needs to deliver an active ingredient in the amount
promised, which is not affected by the processing and to ensure that the active
component meets the label claim. There is a need to: a) identify candidate
botanicals and make a recommendation for which one(s) to use; b) define a
process for a shelf –stable product that
will ensure the presence and activity of the active component(s) and c) ensure
that processing will not adversely affect the component or the characteristics
of the product.