It’s a science for FFA

Lori Hammelman
Posted 10/18/17

The Rochelle Township High School Food Science Team is headed to Indianapolis next week.

The four-member team, comprised of Donny Harmon, Eliza Petry, Claire Plapp, and 2017 RTHS graduate Andrew Myers, is set to compete in practicums, evaluations, and exams that encompass all things about the science of food.

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It’s a science for FFA

Posted

ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Township High School Food Science Team is headed to Indianapolis next week.
The four-member team, comprised of Donny Harmon, Eliza Petry, Claire Plapp, and 2017 RTHS graduate Andrew Myers, is set to compete in practicums, evaluations, and exams that encompass all things about the science of food. They earned their spot at the national level back in March, defeating the second place team by over 100 points.
Donna Page, RTHS Agriculture Instructor and FFA Advisor said during one practicum the team has an hour to create or reformulate a product along with marketing it and all things in between.
“The four of them will receive a real-life problem where they will create or reformulate a product, calculate the nutritional information and create the side panel, make a front panel and label, develop the HACCP plan for the production and processing of the product, and determine the break-even price, suggested retail and markup, and determine test markets and how the product will be marketed,” Page explained. “The team is evaluated not only on the product, calculations, and information but also how well they work together and how well they present to a panel of judges.”

In the food science industry, HACCP, or Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points is a system used to make sure consumers have safe food available without contaminant issues.
“For example, if you are making a product that requires both temperature sensitive ingredients as well as ambient temperature ingredients that each are stored and handled in a way that ensures the finished product is safe for consumption,” Page explained. “Another example is keeping ingredients that contain allergens (dairy or nuts) away from ingredients that do not include allergens.”
Another team practicum involves items related to food safety and sanitation. Much like a health inspector, the four will make recommendations after observing photos and videos and determining the degree of concern.
Along with teamwork, the four students will be judged individually in several areas including a written exam and how they would handle customer inquiries by determining if it would be a biological or chemical concern, and perhaps a food safety or quality issue.
The students will be given mathematical problems related to food science such as conversions or recipe upscaling and a two-part sensory evaluation.
“The first is the identification of four scents (from a list of 33 potential aromas) and the second is the completion of three triangle test which requires them to identify a product that matches a control or is different from other samples,” Page said.
The results of the competition will be announced at a banquet after the two-day competition Oct. 25 and 26.