
Process May Enhance Rice Cake FlavorBy Marcia
Wood May 20, 1997When flavors such as cheese are added to rice cakes, the taste sometimes
doesn't reach all the puffed rice grains. Now, USDA Agricultural Research
Service scientists and a northern California maker of organic rice products are
collaborating to boost the taste-appeal of flavored, fat-free rice cakes. If successful, this could win new fans for this healthful, increasingly
popular snack. Supermarket sales of rice cakes burgeoned from $157 million in
1992 to nearly $249 million in 1995. The new project aims to come up with an innovative process for evenly
spreading the added flavors. The work is being done under a new
CRADA--cooperative research and development agreement--between
ARS scientists and collaborators at
Wehah Farm, Inc., Richvale, Calif. Wehah makes the
Lundberg Family Farms line of
rice products. In one of todays widely used processes, cheese or other flavor is
simply coated onto the outside of the rice cake. That works well for slim,
mini-size rice cakes. But it doesn't always provide uniformly rich flavor in
the thicker, standard-size product. Research chemist William J. Orts heads the project at ARS
Western Regional Research Center, Albany,
Calif. Scientific contact: William J.
Orts, USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA, phone (510)
559-5730, fax 559-5777, [email protected].
Story contacts Marcia A Wood U.S. Department of Agriculture | |