Ever thought of Food technology as a career?

‘Tertiary discovery day’ at the convention centre in Palmerston North!!!

Science is fun! To capture the ‘wow’ factor of food technology Massey’s Food Technology decided to treat the visiting students by allowing them to make their own alginate gummy worms.

Of course, and as expected, they cluttered our display and very quickly the only cool thing around was if you had a tiny plastic bag showing off your own colourful gummy worm.

We guided the students through a quick demonstration and explained how and why the alginate molecules cross links in the presence of calcium. Afterwards we gave them the opportunity to have a go at making their own gummy worms. Needless to say the Food Technology display became the main attraction.

True to food and to every one’s amazement the Food Technology stall also boasted with a monstrous piece of machinery that chugged out rice wafers all day. Feedback from our visitors and experiencing industry in operation on a small scale combined with colourful science in the form of gummy worms convinced me that many of the visiting students will consider food technology as a career!

... And, I can’t wait to try these alginate gummy worms with my students in class next year.

Of course our worms will be edible!