Wednesday, June 14, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Study is quest for good taste Bush tours national park
The Associated Press
ITHACA, N.Y. — In this health-conscious age, most people want to know the ingredients in the food they're eating. John Sherbon and Harry Lawless want to know what's in the ingredients.
But Sherbon and Lawless, Cornell University food scientists, aren't driven by health; they want to deter food that makes food taste the way it does.
It's an area that is increasingly crucial in the food industry.
"I'm not sure it's possible to get anyone to try green eggs and ham, but our job involves trying to learn what it is about green eggs that puts people off, and maybe find a way to make more appealing," said Sherbon.
Away from the public eye — and mind — food scientists work on ways to improve what Americans eat. That not only means making it taste better, but improving quality, processing, storage, stability, nutrients and safety.
"When consumers buy a food product and eat it, they decide whether they like it hashed on the product as a whole," Lawless said at Cornell's new, $6 million Food Processing and Development Laboratory.
"The they do not necessarily look at the individual qualities of the food such as color, taste, aroma and texture under a microscope. However, scientists look at the individual pieces of the food puzzle, trying to understand what makes certain like one product and dislike another."
In the world of big business, that's a mighty tool, said John W. Finley of Nabisco Brands Inc., in East Hanover, N.J. "It's important because no matter how much you spend on advertising and marketing, you can't be that flavor. If it's not tasty, it's not desirable. It's that simple."
A more basic role for taste scientists is to ensure a food tastes the
W,
When consumers buy a food product and eat it, they decide whether they like it based on the product as a whole. They do not necessarily look at the individual qualities of the food such as color, taste, aroma and texture under a microscope. However, scientists look at the individual pieces of the food puzzle, trying to figure out what makes consumers like one product and dislike another.'
Harry Lawless
Cornell University food scientist
same no matter where it's made or its ingredients come from, he said. "When you're dealing with agricultural commodities grown in half a dozen states, the flavor can be extremely variable.
"You want an Oreo cookie to taste the same in Syracuse as it does in Miami. Consumers have certain expectations when they pick up a Oreo cookie, and that usually changes to change. And if they don't like it, they probably won't buy it again."
Early flavor analysis — the science goes back to Louis Pasteur, according to Sherbon — was limited to tasting and sampling by human eyes. Most would not as scientists watched and recorded their observations and comments.
“Sensory evaluation has come a long way since the days of the tongue and palate approach,” said Lawless, who has a background in psychology everything is as easy as the Pepsi challenge would have you believe.”
Sensory panels continue to play a major role. said John Vercellotti, a
research chemist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agriculture Research Service region center in New Orleans. The center, one of its headquarters, has had panilin evaluate such foods as beef, catfish and peanuts.
"No matter how advanced the science gets, these machines are only replicating what the nose and mouth do," said Vercellotti. "There will always be a place for them because people are the ultimate consumers and the ultimate decision-makers as to what tastes good."
The panels can be fairly objective because assessments are made as a group, usually from parameters established with the help of computers, he said. "It's kind of like an a capella choir that sings with absolute pitch. You don't have all the instruments and they may be very different, but collectively you come out with one parmonious sound."
What modern science has been able to do is take assessment a step further by pinpointing the chemical or chemicals that give a food a distinctive taste. One of the more recent developments in this area is "charm" analysis, which uses high-resolution gas chromatography to identify individual chemicals. It involves a person sitting in front of a chromatograph, sniffing emissions and having their responses recorded by a computer.
The name derives from the definition of charm, which is a property that attracts people, said Terry Acree, a chemist at Cornell's laboratory in Geneva. Through charm she created a glass jar that makes what a Concord grape taste different than other varieties or a Cortland apple than a Rome.
"We work in anonymity," said Sherbon, "but the consumer would be the first to know if we weren't doing our job."
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo — President Bush on Monday toured a geyser basin blackened by the devastating fire that swept through Yellowstone last year and then went fishing in the shadow of snow-streaked mountains of Grand Teton National Park.
The Associated Press
Bush walked for nearly a half hour among a section of charred lodgepole pine trees, asking park authorities about the blaze that burned nearly half of Yellowstone's 2.2 million acres.
Shown plant seedlings in abundance on the ground, Bush asked,
"Are there jillions others underneath?"
He questioned whether the burn orange needles on the trees indicated the trees might survive. John Varyle, a researcher in scientist, assured Bash they were dead.
The National Park Service has
previously released surveys aimed at showing the park was well on its way to recovery.
Bush flew to West Yellowstone, Mont., from Washington after announcing a sweeping clean-air program to reduce acid rain, urban smog and cancer-causing toxic chemicals.
An airport crowd of several hundred people serandred him with "Happy Birthday" on his 65th birthday.
Bush was accompanied on the trip by one of his 11 grandchildren, George P. Bush, and Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan, whose department oversees the National Park Service.
From West Yellowstone, Bush and his party of White House aides, security officials and others flew in five helicopters over Yellowstone Park, inspecting the fire damage from the air before landing in a
gevser basin.
Bush wore a blue western shirt, green slacks and hiking shoes, but most of his senior staff members were dressed in dark suits and ties.
After the tour, the president said he had received a "very positive assessment" of the regrowth. The rest of the tour was to be by the roar of the helicopter motor.
closing out the day, Bush returned to his helicopter and went to Jackson Hole to spend time at the armored museum in the brickhouse of Lodge on the banks of Jackson Lake.
Immediately on his arrival, Bush and his grandson, accompanied by security personnel, took off in boats for an evening of fishing.
Before his arrival at Yellowstone, Bush said, "One of my greatest pleasures in life is going fishing with my grandchildren." Bush had traveled with this particular grandson to the Grand Teton before.
More merit scholars go to KU
by Mary Steuby
Kenyon staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Because of an aggressive recruitment campaign last year, the University of Kansas led to top rankings, placing them among the top 15 public universities attracting National Council of Teachers, KU officials said yesterday.
According to the 1988 report of the National Merit Corp., Evan, Ill., 41 National Merit Scholars enrolled at KU for the 1988-89 school year, seven more than the 1987-88 school year.
"We are obviously pleased with being ranked 15th. But, at the same time, we are striving to improve."<sup>8</sup> We are assistant dean of educational services.
Buel worked with Kris Anderson, assistant director of admissions, on a campaign to recruit area scholars by
"Each individual student has very personalized needs," Ruel said. "It is up to the University to show them what our school can meet those needs."
showing them what KU had to offer. Anderson said the campaign focused on national Merit Scholars from colleges and universities in Nebraska, and parts of Colorado.
Anderson said it was important for the University to get beyond the test scores and concentrate on the students as people because area schools were being recruited by the country's top schools.
"We try to show scholars how they can receive a quality education at a prestigious state university, for an affordable price." she said.
KU upscaled its National Merit Scholar recruitment program last fall. In addition to contacting prospective students by mail and phone, structured camps visits and alumni hosted reception were added to the campaign.
Anderson said alumni and present KU scholars played important roles in the recruitment process because of their experience and the benefits of a KU education.
Scholarships were another important tool in recruiting area scholars, she said. A National Merit Scholar finalist who ranked KU as his first place to graduate was able for a $1,300 annual scholarship from Corp. and the National Merit Corp.
In the fall of 1990, the guaranteed scholarship will increase to $2,000, with the addition of the Riss Foundation Scholarship. The Riss Foundation Scholarship is offered to the Riss family for use with the National Merit Scholarship program.
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