Massey students develop new food products

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33065, 4 November 1972, Page 12

Massey students develop new food products

Final-year food technology students at Massey University each year undertake a product development project. It is the students’ responsibility to assess the need for a particular product, to design it, to develop a process to make the product, and finally to evaluate its acceptance by the people for whom it is intended.

The accompanying photograph shows seven of the class members with their projects. Altogether 12 different foods were developed this year, selected from dozens of different ideas. Class members all worked under the general direction of Dr Mary Earle (reader in food technology at Massey) who is delighted with this year’s projects. TOP LEFT.—John Gibbons faced the problem that New Zealand streams and rivers contain a large eel that people overseas don’t like as it is now presented. His aim was to process these eels in a form acceptable to the German market. With the help of the Department of Industries and Commerce, he decided on canned spiced eel. He tested his product with German and Dutch people living in Palmerston North and it was found to be highly acceptable. TOP CENTRE.—Last year there was a large surplus of eggs in New Zealand and Barbara Hayden’s aim was to produce a new product to make use of some of these. From a survey of caterers she found that hard-boiling and shelling of eggs caused a great deal of work and was possibly reducing the demand from caterers for eggs. She is pictured with a “long egg’’ which she produced after adapting some overseas research results to New Zea-

lander’s particular requirements. The “long egg” is sent chilled to the caterer, ready to slice up for sandwiches and salads. TOP RIGHT.—Tom Robertson, in conjunction with a former Massey student at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, has developed a complete baby food for children between three and six months. In the future, the baby food is to be made entirely from Thailand raw materials, except for milk powder from New Zealand.

BOTTOM LEFT.— Peter Kuguru has developed his product in conjunction with a dairy company in Kenya. His aim was to produce a nutritious children’s snack food. From the results of a survey he organised in Nairobi he concluded that bananas are very popular with children, so he designed the machine shown in the photograph which can extrude a banana pulp and milk biscuit dough combined. The result is a milk biscuit with a soft banana centre.

BOTTOM CENTRE.— Ray Winger (left) and Brian Moriarty organising a product test throughout Palmerston North. Mr Winger has made a new type of luncheon sausage including blood serum which is normally wasted in New Zealand, and Mr Moriarty is helping him organise a survey to evaluate its acceptance. BOTTOM RIGHT.— Frances Lavin surveyed the eating habits of teen-age girls in Palmerston North. She selected girls from high school, training college, hospitals, offices and shops, and university and asked them to record everything they ate for one week. From this data she concluded that many of the girls wanted a low calorie snack food, and this picture shows Frances with her final product, which is a savoury vegetable snack.