
Click image for caption and other photo
information. Researchers'
New, All-Natural Snacks Nab National AwardBy Marcia Wood May 9, 2003Techniques for making great-tasting,
healthful and fun-to-eat foods from pears, tomatoes, carrots and other fruits
and vegetables have garnered a national honor for a pair of
Agricultural Research Servicescientists. Research food technologist Tara H. McHugh of the ARS
Western Regional Research Center, Albany,
Calif., and recently retired colleague Charles C. Huxsoll, formerly an
agricultural engineer at Albany, received a 2003 Excellence in Technology
Transfer Award earlier this week at the Tucson, Ariz., annual meeting of the
Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. The consortium helps move to the marketplace technologies developed at any
of more than 600 major federal research and development centers. McHugh and Huxsoll have used an array of food processing techniques to
create new foods made of up to 100 percent pure fruits or vegetables. That's in
contrast to the majority of fruit- or vegetable-based snacks on the market
today that typically don't contain as high an amount of pure fruit or
vegetable. The Albany scientists' creations include a soft, chewy pear bar that
provides the nutritional value of two fresh pears. The bars are a convenient
snack that's about the size and shape of a typical energy bar. HR Mtn Sun,
Inc., of Hood River, Ore., is producing the bars and distributing them through
several supermarket and drugstore chains. Success of the novel product could
boost employment in the region. In other work, the researchers invented edible wraps that could serve as an
environmentally friendly alternative to some of the plastic films used in home
and commercial kitchens today. The team has made colorful prototypes from
purees of tomatoes, broccoli, apples, apricots and nearly a half-dozen other
fruits and vegetables. These appealing new foods could help Americans meet the recommended daily
requirement of five to six servings of fruits or vegetables. Most Americans
consume less than half the recommended total. ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture. U.S. Department of Agriculture |