News

FST Students Take 2nd in National Baking Competition

March 9, 2022

 

A team of Cal Poly Pomona food science and technology students took second place at the annual American Society of Baking (ASB) product development competition.

Angel Go, Marisela Robles, and Julia Duddles each earned a $1,500 scholarship for their efforts in the competition, which was held March 1-3 in Chicago as part of the ASB BakingTECH 2022 Conference.

The team’s second-place finish continues Cal Poly Pomona’s history of success in the ASB competition. Cal Poly Pomona student teams won the event in 2019 and 2020.

This year’s competition required student teams from participating universities to develop a new bakery food product with at least 6 grams of fiber per serving from an innovative source.

The Cal Poly Pomona students created “Upswirlz,” a bakery treat that looked like mini cinnamon rolls, but were made out of okara flour – a byproduct from soymilk production – and nopales powder, both of which are good fiber sources. It was sweetened with guava jam.

The student trio battled against teams from the University of Florida and UC Davis in the competition finals in Chicago.

The students developed their idea last fall in FST 4290L, the Food Product Development Lab, a course taught by Associate Professor Gabriel Davidov-Pardo.

The course is a PolyX experience and serves as the capstone for food science and technology students.

This includes making the product; performing sensory testing; research into how the product would be made on an industrial scale, including an analysis of potential hazards; how they would market and package the product; and possible line extensions, such as offering the product in different flavors.

The Department of Nutrition and Food Science received a donation from American Food Ingredients (AFI) to run the laboratory. Students were challenged to incorporate on in an innovative way at least one of their ingredients.

AFI President Karen Koppenhaver attended a Dec. 2 showcase where students in the class displayed the products they created.  

ASB is a professional organization for the wholesale baking community. Members are commercial baking professionals; food technologists; and engineering, equipment, and ingredient experts who are dedicated to advancing baking and baking science technology through education, leadership development, and networking. 

BakingTECH is annually attended by more than 1,000 baking professionals from across the nation and around the globe.