Students are guinea pigs in taste test
USU students lined up to participate in taste testing at the Food Science building Friday. The students tasted and evaluated various new yogurt and topping samples from one of the local Cache companies.
Students were each assigned a station with a computer, and the samples came through a hole in the wall ahead of them. The samples included various un-flavored, vanilla and strawberry yogurt as well as several different toppings.
“This time it’s kind of interactive,” one helper said. “It’s fun. You get to see people’s reactions.”
There was quite a diversity among the people that came. There were community residents, chemistry students and music majors, to name a few.
The USU food science department regularly participates with local companies to test products.
“Why to us? Because we’re good and have special equipment,” said Professor Silvana Martini, who was in charge of the testing. “Under my supervision, we have different types of tests, this one’s open to everyone.”
Martini also said, “We need a lot of help. If anyone is interested in helping, we will be glad to have them here.”
For dairy companies, the best testing agencies around are USU and BYU, so the department regularly works with volunteers to test new products. For example, recently, there was a similar taste testing by children at one Smithfield school.
Reactions to the food samples were mixed.
“I always do these things for the free ice cream,” said Marcus Scott, graduate student in industrial mathematics. “The strawberry one was good. The other four were unflavored and kind of bitter. I’m not a fan.”
Marcus also said, “The surveys are actually pretty fun. I hope they keep doing these taste testing surveys.”
In addition to testing for companies, the department also tests its own dairy products. In January this year, the department hired 12 cheese testers. These people are selected “according to sensory abilities. Most important is to be available two or three days a week for one to two years,” Martini said.
The panel of 12 people is given a very broad training and taught had to sense various qualities and deficiencies in the dairy products. A new panel will be starting next year. In addition to sensing ability qualifications include participants being between 18 and 60 years old with no food allergies, Martini said.
– r.perkins@aggiemail.usu.edu