2008 Agricultural Technology Contest, April 5, 2008

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2008 Ag Technology Contest/FFA Food Science and Technology Event Description

University of Wisconsin-River Falls - Animal and Food Science Department
If questions, contact Bonnie Walters at bonnie.s.walters@uwrf.edu or 715-425-3704.

Team Activity - Marketing Scenario and Ingredient Choices

A team will consist of 3 to 4 individuals. Prior to the contest the team must prepare materials and a presentation for the team event. The team score will be determined by adding the points from the product development presentation to the top 3 individuals' scores in the individual activities.

We will only be able to accomodate the first 18 teams to register.

I. OBJECTIVES

1. To encourage FFA members to gain an awareness of vocational and professional opportunities in the field of food science and technology, marketing and management occupations.

2. To give FFA members the opportunity to experience group participation and leadership responsibilities in a competitive food science and technology program.

3. To help FFA members develop technical competence and personal initiative in a food science and technology occupation.

4. To provide opportunities for FFA members to participate in activities where they gain an appreciation for cooperative effort in the food industry.

The food science and technology career development event will consist of four activities

1) an objective test
2) a practicum in food safety and quality
3) a practicum in sensory evaluation
4) team presentation

All team members will participate in all of the activities.

II. EVENT FORMAT

A. Equipment

Materials student must provide-Each participant must have a clean, free of notes clipboard, two sharpened No. 2 pencils, and an electronic calculator. Calculators used in this event should be battery operated, non-programmable, silent with large keys and large displays. Calculators should have only these functions- addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, equals, percent, square root, +/- key, and one memory register. No other calculators will be allowed during the event.

B. Team Activity - Marketing Scenario and Ingredient Choices

Team Product Development Project
Each team will receive a marketing scenario describing a need for a new or redesigned product that would appeal to a potential market segment. This scenario will contain a description of the existing marketing situation, competition and potential target market segment to be served by the new product. It is the task of the team to design a new or reformulated food product or reformulate an existing product.

The team will be responsible for understanding and using the following concepts:

• Formulation of product to meet specified market requirements
• New package design to reflect the developed product
• Nutritional label development and adjustments
• Equipment used to produce and package the product
• Provide quality control programs, i.e., good manufacturing practices (GMP) and hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP).

Each team will be provided with packaging materials, ingredients, and information necessary on each ingredient in order to develop a final product label. The team will be able to access this information beginning March 14. With this information, the team will be able to respond to the marketing scenario and reformulate or develop a new product, calculate a nutritional label, develop the ingredient statement and educational panel and develop the front or principal display panel to reflect the new product and its market. At the contest, each team member will contribute in a ten- (10) minute oral product development proposal. Thereafter, there will be a ten- (10) minute question period from the judges in which each team member will be expected to answer questions about the development of their particular product.

Total time involved for each team will be 20 minutes. Total number of points possible for this activity will be 400 points.


Evaluation Criteria for Product Development Presentation

• Product Development.....................................200 points
• How does the product meet the market needs? (60)
• The presentation should address the following product concerns: (105)
  • Economics
  • Products/Processing/Packaging
  • Nutrition
  • Marketing and Diversity
  • Quality Control
  • Formulation
  • Food Safety
    

Quality of Presentation (35)

• Package Design................................................100 points
• Use, development and adaptation of nutritional label
• Use and development of the ingredient statement on educational panel
• Use of principle display panel to convey information
• Response to judge’s questions ........................100 points
  Total ............................................................400 points

C. Individual Activities

1. Test
The objective questions administered during the Food Science and Technology examination will be designed to determine each team member's understanding of the basic principles of food science and technology. It will encompass the knowledge required of the team event and the two practicums, i.e. food safety and quality and sensory evaluation, as well as material in the list of references.

Team members will work individually to answer each of the 50 questions. Each person will have fifty minutes to complete the examination. Each question will be worth 6 points for a correct answer. The test will be based on the list of references.

2. Practicums
Each team member will compete in both practicums. The practicums will each be worth 150 points.

a. Food Safety and Quality Practicum

1. Customer Complaint Letter
Each participant will be given a representative consumer complaint letter received by a food processing company. In fifteen (15) minutes the participant must determine if the complaint involves a food quality problem, then ascertain the cause of the quality defect and a possible solution. If the participant identifies that the letter describes a food safety problem, he or she must determine whether the problem is biological, chemical or physical in nature and its possible mitigation. Regardless of the problem each participant will write out his or her answer using paper provided.

2. Food Safety/Sanitation
Each participant will be given ten (10) photos of potential food safety and/or sanitation problems. A numbered list of problems will also be provided at the beginning of this practicum segment. The list will contain more potential problems than the number of photographs. The list will contain such standards as good manufacturing practices (GMP) and hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP). Identify the type of problem in the photo sheet by recording the number from the list on a scantron sheet provided to each participant. Each participant will start at a station to view a photograph and record an answer. After one minute, the participants will be told to move to the next station. This will continue until each participant returns to his or her original station.

Food Safety & Quality Practicum Scorecard
Identification of Problem......................25 points
Solution to Problem ............................25 points
Food Safety & Sanitation Problem
Identification .......................................100 points
Total Points .......................................150 points

b. Sensory Evaluation

Each participant will be given one minute at each station before being told to move to a new station. When each person returns to his or her original station this practicum is completed.

• Three different triangle tests will be conducted. Participants are expected to identify the different sample through aroma, visual cues or textural differences. Answers will be given on the sheet provided. No list will be provided for this segment of the practicum. Each test is worth 15 points.
• Three samples will be tasted. Participants will be expected to discern the different taste of each sample when compared to a control or normal sample. Each station is worth 15 points.
• Each participant will be asked to identify four different aromas from vials provided at each station and record the answer on the sheet provided. A list of potential aromas will be provided to each person. Each station is worth 15 points.
  

Sensory Evaluation Scorecard
Aroma Identification .............................60 points
Difference Testing.................................45 points
Taste Testing........................................45 points
Total Points .....................................150 points

III. TIE BREAKERS

Should a tie occur in the overall team placing, the tie will be broken by the highest team product development project score. If this score does not break the tie, then the highest number of total points earned from the objective test (adding the individual scores from the top 3 team members) will break the tie. If a third tiebreaker is needed the judges response to the Team Question period from the Team Product Development project will be used. To identify the high individual for this event in case of a tie, the highest examination score will be used as the first tiebreaker, followed by the highest Food Safety and Quality practicum score, as the second tiebreaker.

IV. REFERENCES

This list of references is not intended to be inclusive. Other sources may be utilized and teachers are encouraged to make use of the very best instructional materials available.

The following list contains references that may prove helpful during event preparation.

Food Science, Safety and Nutrition - a special project from
the National Council of Agricultural Education.

Food Science and Safety, 1998, Seperich, Interstate
Publishers, Inc.

Principles of Food Sanitation, 1999,Marriott, Aspen
Publishers, Inc.

Institute of Food Technology, www.ift.org

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