 In spite of varied origins and personal objectives, graduate students in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Washington State University share a common goal: to create new food products that are high in nutrition and consistent in quality while being efficient and profitable in manufacture. A heated discussion, for example, on the potential dangers of food technology—specifically on vitamin-depleting Olestra, which is celebrated by potato chip lovers even though it has caused stomach upset—nonetheless ended with agreement that it is possible to make money and good products simultaneously.  Tacoma-born Rich Jackowski, who is working on the preparation of a granular cold-water soluble starch, wants to involve both food scientists and nutritionists in the creation of products like Olestra. As he sees it, there has to be some working relationship between the two groups. Beata Klamczynska is working towards her master’s degree and pursuing her goal of producing healthier food. For those who are wary of unfamiliar chemicals that boost the taste and color of food, it is assuring to know that Klamczynska and her colleagues are genuinely concerned about nutrition. But for those of us who slavishly enjoy Cool Ranch Doritos by the handful, Klamczynska’s ultimate goal of eliminating junk food from grocery shelves causes consternation. Klamczynska hopes to use technology to create products that rely on natural ingredients with as few preservatives as possible, and perhaps most important, she hopes to achieve a broad perspective of the field. “The problem is that people are so specialized in what they do. Food scientists think about how to make a product, but they don’t think, ‘is it going to be nutritious?’” she says. One of the challenges the field of food science faces is the working relationship between food-plant breeders and nutritionists. As Klamczynska sees it, breeders often don’t focus on the end product, but breed just for profit, yield, and disease resistance. Food science departments may not see a new strain of a crop until the breeders are ready to promote it. The problem with this approach is that growers wind up investing money in a crop variety that may not perform well in products. Like Klamczynska, Galina Mikhaylenko tries to maintain a technology and nutrition perspective in her research as she applies her bachelor’s degree in breeding and genetics to research into new varieties of wheat. She is in search of a high-yield wheat variety that produces stable quality end-products. Mikhaylenko attributes her interest in food science to the delicious food her great-grandmother made, the kind of cooking she calls an art. She describes Ukrainian cooking as tradition, and explains that even though she was raised in a city, she grew up understanding the relationship between crop production and the food she ate. Stuart Tolman, who studies the handling properties of bread dough and the influence of protein on bread-dough flour, believes that food technology, like any other form of technology, can solve or create problems. He sees the United States as a kind of utopia as far as the variety and affordability of food are concerned. But he worries about the future of traditional farming due to the lack of undeveloped farmland in this country. As he sees it, the maintenance of the food supply will eventually require the application of technology. Tolman believes that technology can increase the nutritional value of food and, perhaps even more important, enable greater production of grain in limited growing spaces. Christy Kadharmestan, who grew up in Jakarta and received her undergraduate degree in food science at Cal State-Fresno, is familiar with the problems caused by a shortage of farmland. In fact, it was this very problem in Indonesia that inspired her to become a food scientist. Kadharmestan is studying ways to incorporate whey protein concentrate into wheat-based products. She has seen that reliance on grain importation translates into prohibitively high prices of staple foods like breakfast cereal, which in Jakarta costs seven or eight dollars for the smallest box. Even though she has not decided if she will return to Indonesia, she hopes to take new technology there to help with cereal production. At a recent department seminar Klamczynska gave a presentation on the application of different legume concentrates in bread, cookies, noodles, and pasta. She offered ways to bolster nutritional value in these products without increasing the cost of production. She was respectfully grilled by colleagues who were genuinely interested in her work. One thing was obvious: the graduate students in food science, health, and nutrition share a strong sense of camaraderie. “This is a wonderful group,” says Kadharmestan. —Kristin Harper |