I Ate the Whole Thing -- Food Label Hypothetical

Have you ever eaten a whole can of soup or a whole pint of ice cream? How about a whole bag of popcorn? These are just some of the products that are often consumed per container instead of per serving recommended on the label. But what if the label matched what we actually normally eat?
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You mean a serving ISN'T one whole roll?

Secret Tips For Surviving a Convention, Expo and/or Conference

I used to work for a convention center as a cashier during all the big expos and conventions. Now I'm on the other side, walking the show floor and holding meetings throughout the day at several exhibitor booths. Regardless of the industry, there are ten "insider tips" I'd give to anyone who has the opportunity to attend an expo, conference or convention.

1--Bring a water bottle you can refill.

When I worked for the convention center, I used to tell my angry customers that the Convention Center water was magical, and that's why it was so expensive. That usually got a sympathy laugh, but bringing your own water bottle and refilling at the water fountains is definitely the way to go. I'd even add a lemon to the water bottle because some drinking fountain water doesn't taste that good.

2--Stay hydrated.

Attending a convention, conference or expo usually involves a jam-packed day of walking the floor and meeting people. Dehydration leads to fatigue, and sometimes grumpiness, not to mention the increased risk of binging on free samples (see tip number 3).

3--Go Easy on the free samples.

This tip is especially relevant to food industry expos like Natural Products Expo or IFT, but at any expo there are the people who get so excited by all the free pens, buttons and stress balls that they take home more branded junk than they need.  When it comes to food/beverage and supplement industry expos, it helps to remember that some samples are carefully monitored and frequently refreshed, and some samples are neglected and exposed for hours. In rare cases this neglect and exposure could lead to microbial growth or contamination. In most cases abandoned samples will just suffer sensory degradation, meaning they taste much less appealing than they do made fresh. As a food scientist, it makes me nervous when the Sales Rep wants to offer a sample tasting bar... ("Okay but pleaaaassee don't leave the tasting cups out for more than 30 minutes or my baby won't taste like it's supposed to!")

4--Bring plenty of business cards.

It's better to have a surplus of business cards and not need them than to miss the opportunity to connect with someone (or the opportunity to win a free iPad in those business card raffles I always see at expos).  Furthermore, with every business card you hand out you reduce your risk of having to throw away recycle those cards when you're promoted or change jobs.

5--Bring hand warmers.

Seriously, stopping at a sporting goods store and buying the camping pack of hand warmers may be the best expo/convention/conference investment I've ever made. Convention centers are always cold. Aside from the crankiness and drowsiness, the cold can lead to other uncomfortable conditions (see tip number 6).

6--Take an "Essentials Kit".

Cold air can lead to chapped hands and chapped lips, so bring a mini-bottle of lotion and some chap-stick. When you meet people for the first time at expos and conventions, you want to make a good first-impression and not be worried about a hangnail or whether or not your lunch is still in your teeth.  Bring floss and a toothbrush, a nail file or clippers, and a small packet of tissues. Ladies, you may want to bring a few other items...like bobby pins and makeup. If I had a nickle for every woman that's asked me for a rubber band or bobby pin when I worked at the convention center, I'd have enough money to buy Convention Center water.

file under "just in case"

 

7--Bring your own food (and caffeine!)

Food at these types of events is either free (see tip number 3) or expensive (see tip number 1). Since it's usually a jam-packed day, people don't have time to stand in line for 30 minutes for lunch. The alternative is to bring in your own food. Cuties, RTD protein shakes, baby carrots and pre-sliced apples with nuts or peanut butter are good snacks to bring along because they're small, mess-free and not temperature-dependent. With all the free samples it's probably not necessary to eat a whole 500 calorie lunch. As for the caffeine, well, it's not a necessity for everyone. Some people find caffeine helps if they have to work the booth or walk the floor all day. It also helps some people stay engaged and friendly/peppy when they've got meeting after meeting after meeting.

8--Don't look down on those with backpacks.

By the end of the day the free, branded, reusable bag you got at the door is straining with the weight and volume of all the flyers, free pens and samples you've amassed throughout the day. I know it looks silly, but a backpack is not something to scoff at. A backpack is actually a good idea if you have to bring a laptop for some of your convention presentations or meetings, a jacket for layering up in the cold, or a pair of comfy shoes (see tip number 9).  Of course there are some exceptions, and some backpacks that should be left at home...

Little Spark wants to come to the expo

 

9--Bring comfy shoes (and a pedometer).

Walking the floor is great exercise (but maybe not enough exercise to justify all the free samples you'll consume). You'd be surprised how many miles you walk during events like this so it's a good idea to wear a pedometer. The comfy shoes tip is one many people have already figured out. When I worked the convention center it was always fun to see how the footwear evolved from Day 1 of the expo through to the last day of the event. By the end, everyone is in flats so don't feel bad if you have to trade style for comfort. If anyone makes fun of your kicks, challenge them to a foot race.

10--Bring a cell phone charger.

Convention centers don't always get the best reception, and your smart phone may spend its battery power searching for a signal the whole day. Even if the signal was fantastic, battery power dwindles rapidly when you're using the expo app on your smart phone, taking pictures of booths or exhibits, or using GPS to find your way back to your hotel.

With these 10 tips, you can avoid common problems and pitfalls of the typical expo or convention. If you have any tips/tricks to add, I'd love to hear them. Thanks, and enjoy the show!

Reflecting and Looking Forward -- Big News for the Green-Eyed Guide

Perhaps it’s because my mind works in check lists and bullet points. Perhaps it’s because I’ve taken on a role that has dramatically improved my understanding of botanical ingredients and has strengthened my relationships with ingredient suppliers. Perhaps it’s because I sometimes make royal messes when I weigh out dry powder ingredients (see previous post – “The Xanthan Gum Disaster“). For whatever reason, I’ve been promoted from R&D Food Technologist to R&D Quality Assurance Specialist (see “What I Do When I’m Not Blogging“).

I see the projects I’m handed as a reflection of the confidence my team holds in my abilities, and thus the big expectations for me have filled me with excited determination. It reminds me of the first time my mom handed me the keys to the car and said “Okay, you can drive this time.”

I couldn’t be happier, but during this transition I’ve been incredibly busy. I apologize for not posting on a more regular basis but I intend to make up for that. Here’s what lies in store for the month of March:

Upcoming Posts for March on GreenEyedGuide.com:

• Honorable Mentions – products that aren’t quite the caliber for “Energy Drink of the Month” but deserve to be discussed on a scientific basis, for better or worse (one example: “How to Spot a Bad Product“)
• The Linger – A Food Science Horror Story; a continuation of the “Food Scientist Life” series (see other installations of this series here)
• I Ate the Whole Thing – Green-Eyed Insight on what food labels should and could look like with the new FDA guidelines
• Energy Drink/Supplement Dilemmas -  What the 2014  FDA guidance and regulations mean for this particular product category (related posts: “Monster Makes the Switch” and “Supplement, Drug or Drink“)
• When Granola Bars Roam Free – Green-Eyed Insight on the most unnatural “natural” food products

Thanks for your support!

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Read an excerpt of Are You a Monster or a Rock Star: A Guide to Energy Drinks

GMOs, Energy Drinks, and "Natural" Labeling: Controversial Issues Come to Anaheim, CA

On March 6, 2014 the Southern California section of the Institute of Food Technologists will host the annual "Hot Topics" conference, featuring discussions on controversial issues including GMOs, energy drinks and use of the word "natural" on food labels. 

This conference is open to anyone in the food/beverage and supplement industries, from food reporters to restaurant owners; from ingredient buyers, suppliers and 'marketeers' to food scientists, product developers and nutritionists. The purpose of this conference is to provide information on the topics most likely to confront those in the industry:

Should I market my product as an energy drink or a functional drink? Should we label our product a food or a supplement and what happens if we pick the wrong category? Can I say this fruit juice is natural? How can we tell our consumers we just can't do non-GM products without changing our entire business model and supply chain? 

The purpose of this conference is so people in the food, beverage and supplement industry can come learn about the some of the challenging topics our industry is facing. As a food scientist and one of the event coordinators I'm proud of the speakers we've assembled. We're hoping for engaging discussions and open minds so people won't be afraid to ask questions or to answer them honestly. Especially when it comes to GMOs and energy drinks, there's always the concern the question-and-answer portion of the presentations will turn ugly. It's happened before.

Scheduled Speakers and Topics:

Food/Beverage or Supplement? Guidelines and watch-outs for marketing in either category

Justin Prochnow, Attorney/Shareholder with Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Biotechnology: How different companies are handling the issue and how to address the issue with your consumers

John Ruff, Former IFT Chair, and Connor Link, Sr. Digital/Social Media Editor for New Hope Naturals Media

Satiety, A Balancing Act: Hunger, satiety and the role of taste and smell in food preference

            Dr. Richard Mattes, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Purdue University

The 'Natural' Perspective: What this term means to industry and to consumers

            Catherine Adams Hutt, PhD, RD, Chief Science & Regulatory Officer, Sloan Trends

The Southern California Food Industry Conference (SCFIC) will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center Marriott on March 6, 2014 from 8:30am – 4pm.  Winners of the SCFIC Gluten-Free Product Development Student Competition will be announced and awarded during lunch. For More Information: http://www.scifts.net/html/scfic.html

 

Stability Studies May Lead to Instability - Food Scientist Life

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.

Green-Eyed Insight on Stability Studies

Have you ever looked at an expiration date and wondered, "How do they know?" Determining or confirming the shelf-life of a product is important for several reasons, but the process itself can be a bit mind-numbing. Here's what I didn't learn in school.

Why It's Important

Expiration dates are based on the answers to several different questions. When does the product become unpalatable? When do the vitamins and minerals degrade below the amounts on the label? When does the product become unsafe to eat? To sell a product that meets consumer sensory expectations, label claims and food safety requirements, you have to know the answers to all three questions. 

Side-note: Why It's Confusing

This would be a great time to note that expiration dates can be perplexing. An expiration date is not quite the same as the "sell by", "use by" or "best by" date. For example, "use by" is meant to help consumers know when a product is no longer good to eat whereas "best by" and "sell by" are meant to help those selling the product manage their stock (think of those racks of discounted "Manager's Special" items in back of the grocery store). Misinterpretation of these dates leads to as much as $165 billion in food waste PER YEAR according to a report by the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic and the National Resources Defense Council [1, 2].

Why It's Complicated

As a product developer, I work on a dry powder shake that's supposed to last one year. Our products don't use the "best by" or "use by" terms; our packages say "EXP MM/DD/YYYY". Up until that date, our product is expected to taste as delicious as the day it was made, and must provide all the vitamins/mineral and nutrient contents on the label. This is harder than it seems because flavors, proteins, vitamins/minerals and oxidation-prone (air-sensitive) ingredients like fish oil, chia and flax all have different rates of degradation. In some cases, products start out with vitamin/mineral overages so there's enough left at the end of shelf-life to meet the label claims. Instead of using overages, you might shorten the shelf-life or slow the degradation of certain nutrients with encapsulation [3].

How We Do It Here

In order to continuously improve the food safety and quality of our finished product, my team and I are always looking at alternate ingredients. For example, say blueberry powder A is great, but blueberry powder B is cheaper and has lower heavy metal contents. We can't just switch from one to another; what if blueberry powder B makes the product taste funny after 6 months? Our product is supposed to be delicious and nutritious for a whole year. We've got to test this. 

500 servings x 35g each x 4 variants

Step One: Make your blends. 

For your control and all your variants you need to make a big enough batch to put a few servings into the freezer ("time zero"), a few servings into room temperature storage, and a few servings into accelerated storage (where 1 week at 40* Celsius is equivalent to 2 months at room temp). Accelerated storage is a marvelous tool because it only takes six weeks to determine how the product will taste after one year in real time. Plus, since my office is always freezing cold, I rather enjoy fetching samples from accelerated storage and feeling the hot air hit my face.

 

break big tasks into small steps

Step Two: Divvy your blends up into single pouches. 

Warning – this may take a while, depending on the size of your batches and number of variants. Unless you have Audible or music or some metaphysical question to ponder you may feel your mind slipping a little. Fight the urge to listen to podcasts because you need to pay attention to what you're doing. I swore off listening to Baseball Tonight and "Wait Wait …Don't Tell Me" because once I lost track of what sample I was working on and had to start over. Rookie mistake.

Step Three: Seal your pouches. 

Make darn sure they're sealed. There's nothing worse than putting all the time and energy into preparing samples then seeing random powder piles on the shelves inside the stability chamber.

Plastic bags and small boxes come in handy!

Step Four: Set calendar reminders.

Include specifics on what samples to pull, from what location (freezer, room temp, accelerated) on which days. Even though you've put all this work into setting up the stability study, it's not uncommon to set it and forget it. Putting the samples in the Hot Box mentally feels like the job is done – no more Open Loops. Since one week in the 40*C chamber is the equivalent of two months, it's important not to miss the days you're supposed to pull a sample.

Step Five: Taste. 

This might be a mentally exhausting exercise based on the number of samples you have to pull. Unlike Pavlov's dogs you might grow to dread the sound of the calendar reminder, especially if there's a lot of samples or if they're not aging well. This is where oyster crackers and carbonated water come in handy – see previous post.

Bottom Line

Shelf-life and stability studies can be mind-numbing, tedious, time-consuming experiments, but you'll learn more about your ingredients and your product than you could possibly anticipate. It's kind of exciting to have that knowledge that others aren't privy to, and that knowledge improves your product and your skill set as a product developer. That is the silver lining.

Resources:

[1] Food Business News: "Expiration harmonization sought" http://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/news_home/Regulatory_News/2013/09/Expiration_harmonization_sough.aspx?ID={85A33A75-6C9E-4D85-9797-34E4874E27D3}

[2] NRDC: "The Dating Game: How Confusing Food Date Labels Lead to Food Waste in America" http://www.nrdc.org/food/expiration-dates.asp

[3] Maxx Performance Newsletter – Winter 2014 http://email.maxxperform.com/t/ViewEmail/y/B1F4EE53EC2CEA20

Related Posts:

 The Xanthan Gum Disaster

 

Next Lesson - "The Linger": A Food Science Horror Story
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Stay tuned for more lessons from the lab. 
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Energy Drink of the Month - February 2014

Many people have a love/hate relationship with February. Maybe you're happy there are so many three-day weekends in February or maybe you feel like it's harder to meet your monthly deadlines because the month is so short. Perhaps you're looking forward to receiving something cute and fluffy on Valentine's Day, or perhaps you're excited about that pint of Half-Baked on Singles Awareness Day. Whether you like it or not, love is in the air, and I love this month's energy drink. 

How cute is this? It squeaks too!

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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. 
Follow GreenEyedGuide on Twitter