Years of being teased for being a ‘cow college’ have finally paid off for Mississippi State University.
An MSU Dairy Products Evaluation Team finished second in an international competition Nov. 1 in Chicago, Ill.
In the International Collegiate Dairy Products Judging Contest, students tasted and evaluated different types of dairy products, including cheeses, milk, butter, ice cream and yogurt. Their answers were then scored against those of industry judges.
The three members of the team were Carrie Swoope, Cheryl Hickman and Michael Lynn Tynes, all senior food science and technology majors.
Swoope received the title of “Best Taster in the Land” after winning the overall undergraduate individual competition, and Lorena Albuja finished second overall in the graduate student contest.
Swoope said the competition was tedious and took nearly four and a half hours.
During that time, the students each had to taste about 50 different product samples without knowing the brand names of any.
Charles White, who coached the team in the contest, said being able to evaluate products is an important ability in the food industry.
“Somebody has to taste every product before it is released,” he said.
The students learned to examine the taste and texture of samples, among other things, and had to ask, “If it’s good, then how good is it? If it’s bad, what’s wrong with it?” White added.
Participating students practiced for an hour each morning, Albuja said.
“We trained every day since the beginning of the semester,”Albuja said.
White said many students in food science will be using these kinds of evaluation skills in their careers after graduation, which makes the training used for the contest more important.
“A lot of our students go to work either in quality assurance, production management, or improving existing products,” White said.
The alternates for the contest will be eligible to participate next year. Juniors Eric Steer and Neil Bogart, and sophomores Mary Edith King and Justin Larsen served in these positions.