Job mixes science with culinary skill

BY DEBBIE BLOSSOM

Published: November 23, 2008

Americans’ interest in food today goes far beyond cooking and eating the results.

The bigger selection of natural and home-grown products now sitting on grocery store shelves and specialty store displays next to well-known national brands has become big business.

But getting a product from a home kitchen to the retail market isn’t always an easy task. And that’s where food scientist and sensory specialist Darren Scott comes in.

Scott’s career brought him to the Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater in 2000, where he is part of a team of scientists, technologists and product marketing pros who help clients develop new food products.

Keeping jobs local

The FAPC’s mission is to keep those products and resulting jobs and revenues in Oklahoma.

Scott’s focus is product development, and guiding aspiring entrepreneurs and established companies who want to turn product ideas into reality.

"I work with clients to help them take food from home and turn it into a product that can be sold commercially,” he said.

When it comes to new products, sauces and condiments created from unique and flavorful ingredients are popular choices for people looking to take a family recipe to the next level. That involves tweaking at-home recipes at onsite kitchens into formulations that can be made in much larger quantities with a much longer shelf life.

"The recipes people have at home are just that — home recipes,” he said, that don’t necessarily translate into big-batch production. Clients don’t know how to calculate the cost of making hundreds or thousands of one item, or the amount of ingredients needed, he added.

Nutrition, taste test

Scott can also help determine nutritional labeling, and he conducts sensory analysis to observe testers’ reactions to the color, texture, taste and visual appeal of particular foods.

Turning Uncle Ned’s barbecue sauce or Aunt Betty’s praline cookies into a business is just a part of this country’s food industry which has grown tremendously in the past few years, he said.

"Things like the Food Network have pushed food science to the forefront,” he said.

Scott started his career in Arkansas where he grew up and attended college.

After graduating with an undergraduate and masters degree in food science from the University of Arkansas, he worked at a lab in Springdale, Ark., performing micro and chemical testing, for example, on well water and oil samples.

Scott then took a supervisory job in quality assurance at a juice plant in the same city.

‘I always liked science’

At the plant, Scott’s job was to ensure that specifications for production and packaging met guidelines.

The opportunity at OSU’s Food & Agricultural Products Center appealed to Scott’s interest in food and supporting value-added agriculture.

As a student, "I always liked science, English and social studies, and I always hoped to have a career in one of those,” he said.

In the end, the science of food won, although Scott does use his writing skills by penning articles for the center’s magazine.

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