Oyster Crackers, Carbonated Water and Spitting -- Life as a Food Scientist

This is a series of posts in which I share snippets of what it's like to be a food scientist. As a product developer for dry powder shakes, there are some lessons I never learned in school and some challenges I never saw coming.

Lessons I Never Learned in Food Science: The Value of Oyster Crackers, Carbonated Water and Spitting

 

Oyster crackers, carbonated water and spitting – three things without which my job would be impossible. Sort of. My first month of the job I told my colleague and new friend, "I don't want this product to be developed by someone who's almost never swallowed it." She just smiled. Newbie.

Oyster Crackers

Anytime we're taste-testing a product, we use oyster crackers to make sure there's no carry-over. For instance, if you're comparing two dry powder shakes, each one made with a different supplier's protein powder, you need to make sure your mouth is neutral before that first sip of either one. If the first sample you taste has strong milky or bitter notes, those notes can linger in your mouth and taint your impression of the second sample. If you're just comparing two or three products you can probably forgo the crackers. When you're tasting 5 or more samples, they become necessary.

Carbonated water

In our lab, we go through carbonated water like an infant goes through diapers. The best investment we've ever made was our soda stream. Before adding that to our family of lab equipment, we'd have to buy one case of Perrier a week. Like the oyster crackers, the sparkling water is essential to neutralize the mouth between tastings. Carbonated water beats regular flat water here because the carbonation helps wash away any lingering sweetness, especially from high intensity sweeteners.

Spitting

I stand firm in my position against spitting but there are days when I've been temped. Tasting sample after sample after sample can sometimes be mentally exhausting, and it definitely puts a damper on your appetite.The reason spitting is beneficial is it somewhat mitigates burnout. When I started my job as Quality Assurance with an ice cream and mochi manufacturer, I got to taste ice cream every single morning. That sounds like every kid's dream job, and it was wonderful for about eight months. Then I started getting sick of ice cream, and the best part of QA testing was the search for the smiley faces.

The air bubbles really do make smiley faces!

Burnout still happens when you've been working on the same product for more than a year. My boss can never eat pudding again. My friend has sworn off flavored beverages. I refuse to buy any more dry powder protein shakes because I taste them so much at work. Nonetheless, I love my job. Bringing a new product into the market feels like sending your child off to school for the first time. "Be good, make me proud, I hope everybody loves you!"

A typical Tuesday in the lab...taste, observe, record, think of a new way to improve formula, repeat.

Related Posts:
What They Didn't Teach Me in Food Science
The Xanthan Gum Disaster

Next Lesson - Stability Studies May Lead to Instability
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Stay tuned for more lessons from the lab. 
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