Designing the food we eat Food companies rely on highly trained scientists to develop the products we eat

Designing the food we eat

Food companies rely on highly trained scientists to develop the products we eat. LYNNETTE HOFFMAN reports

The Weekend Australian (Career One)

15 November 2003

With beef consumption in the United States rapidly declining, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association took matters into its own hands and enlisted food scientists to develop a beef-based appetizer. The result? Cheeseburger fries—a greasy blend of beef and processed cheese, breaded, deep-fried and served in restaurants and bars across the USA with a choice of dipping sauces (barbecue or tomato).

If this new culinary invention, two years in the making, sounds, well, disgusting, you can rest assured. Industry experts say food science in Australia is heading in a different, less fattening direction.

“The industry is heading toward so called ‘functional food,’” says Dr. Jian Zhao, a food science lecturer at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. “Consumers are increasingly looking for food with health benefits such as low calorie, low fat foods and even foods with anti-oxidant properties or immune system boosting qualities.”

Ilona Norman, Quality Manager at Heimann Foodmaker Group, a family-owned Australian company that develops seasonings, soups, pre-mixes and cures for manufacturers, agrees. She says her company is increasingly creating products free from preservatives, genetically modified ingredients or known allergens as more and more customers demand it. Heimann offers a gluten free line, for example.

The key to keeping up with the trend, according to Zhao and Norman, is a keen understanding of the ever-changing government regulations as well as up-to-date knowledge of the most recent scientific discoveries—a challenge considering how rapid fire scientific advancements are coming.

And with the federal government tightening legislation around declaring allergens, genetically modified organisms, preservatives and other potential “hazards, Norman expects the job of food scientists will grow even more challenging.

By and large Australia’s food industry is dominated by multinational corporations like Nestle, Hines, Kraft and Cadbury, to name a few. Most of these food giants develop their new products overseas using increasingly complicated and expensive technology, says Professor Andrew Halmos, head of the department of food science at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Food scientists in Australia are less likely to develop products like cheeseburger fries from scratch, and more likely to revamp products originally designed in and for overseas markets.

“They redevelop products using local ingredients and try to create variations that suit local tastes,” Halmos says. In the United States where corn is abundant and cheap, products such as soft drinks are usually sweetened with corn syrup, for example. In Australia the corn syrup is often replaced with sugar. The trend is evident in countless products: try Vegemite in New Zealand and you’ll find it subtly different to its Australian counterpart. And Kraft sells three different versions of Philadelphia Cream Cheese in Europe, America and Australia.

Food Science Australia, Australia’s largest food research and development organization, has also shifted away from developing completely new flavours and products and is instead focusing on flavour improvement. For example scientists are currently looking at ways to preserve the natural flavour in processed tomato products.

Still there are significant job opportunities for food scientists in Australia—so many, in fact, that there is actually a shortage of qualified food scientists.

“The number of people who graduate isn’t enough to fill the number of jobs,” Halmos says, “And the job market for food scientists and technologists is increasing due in large part to interest from Asia.” That is, at least in part, thanks to Australia’s long held reputation as “clean and green.”

The prevalence of multinational corporations means there are always opportunities, especially for those who specialise in product development, to work or study abroad, Zhao points out. Employers are looking for creative candidates with a broad range of knowledge and skills, and they’ll take them from wherever they can find them.

The handful of food scientists who develop and refine wacky flavours (include oddities such as peanut butter-filled, chocolate-coated pretzels) for Ben & Jerry’s Homemade, the popular American specialty ice-cream, are referred to as the “Flavour Gurus”. It’s an alluring job title not often seen on resumes, and the job description of creating, and of course tasting, ice-cream and sorbet sounds a dream way to spend 9 to 5 to many. But in reality developing new products and flavours involves much more than chopping and stirring. In fact it’s that stereotyped image of a food scientist in a chef’s hat that seems to frustrate industry professionals most.

“One of the most common misconceptions in Australia is that food scientists are cooks,” Zhao says. Halmos says the image of food scientists as culinary professionals is so widespread that several small companies in the industry have bought into the idea as well. “These little companies are hiring people who have cooking backgrounds and giving them titles far beyond their qualifications. They don’t understand that this is true full blown science and technology.”

Not that cooking and food science are completely unrelated. Norman says her food-lover’s background (her parents are chefs) certainly influenced her decision to earn a Bachelor of Applied Science degree with majors in food science and marketing.

That is exactly the sort of combination many university food science programs are encouraging. Though most food science programs focus primarily on sciences and maths, with required chemistry, physics and microbiology classes among others, they increasingly suggest students broaden their skills in other areas as well.

“One of the challenges of food science is that it really is multidisciplinary. You have to have knowledge of marketing, management, and you need technical knowledge as well. Then you need to actually integrate all these areas together. And you really need to have strong team-working skills too,” Zhao says.

In layman’s terms, the Quality Manager overseas the last step in the lengthy development process. Norman’s job involves a diverse range of roles from auditing to training to ensuring that legal obligations are met, quality standards are in place, and ultimately, that customers are satisfied. “I’m always doing something different,” she says.

Before a product hits the shelves scientists check to ensure that everything—from safety standards to the shelf life to texture, taste and aroma—is high quality and in line with market trends.

Given all the work that goes into developing a product it comes as little surprise that many food scientists feel they are unrecognized and underpaid. Starting salaries for graduates hover between $28,000 to $30,000 and few companies pay more than $60,000 for middle management positions. But there are other rewards.

“It’s very exciting when you develop something and see it actually appear in the marketplace,” Zhao says. “You think I made that.”