Saturday photo

Hide and seek...

"Hide and seek...." That's exactly the scenario between myself and my appetite for food these days. It's a recent health issue aftermath, I think. I'm not used to not having an appetite for food because I am, generally, a hearty eater... I guess, even in my major career choices that's apparent, too. A chemical engineering junkie, with special focus on "food engineering", which was obtained via a heavy dose (a.k.a. "academic lab slavery") of food science. ;) But, nope, I don't do human nutrition though... and while I love cooking and totally admire great cooks and chefs, that doesn't comprise my work as a scientist either... which doesn't mean I haven't been wishing that it did! :)

While I design processes, and study ingredients interactions that are relevant to process design, to develop food products... I don't really look deeply into how the food product I develop gets consumed in the human body - that's the job of a human nutrition expert. While I'm interested in that, too, I can't be dipping my fingers in too many bowls - no matter how tasty what those bowls are holding. "Focus", remember? ;)

What I do is relevant to eating per se, but the specific choice of food product, the processing of which I endeavor to design, is "market-driven" or "need-driven". Sometimes I get alerted by a market trend, where consumers show desire or fondness for certain products... but they have issues with the sensory or nutrition-related quality of the products. And since engineers are "problem solvers", problems on food quality related to processing are "solved" by food engineers! *wink* Most of the time, sensory and/or nutritive quality problems can be addressed by reformulation... and to do that, ingredients interactions must be understood. And that's when "good old chemistry" comes in - a food scientist's ballgame. In some cases, the formulation is perfect, and all that is needed is twitching the process here and there to control ingredients interactions to obtain the desired characteristics of the product... or simply design a new one! And that's when "good old process engineering" comes into play - a chemical engineering background is perfect for this sort of thing. In most cases, both chemistry and engineering are needed, in varying degrees, to successfully solve a problem. Luckily, my training usually allows me to work on both - food engineering, baby! ;)

Going back to process and product design motivation... other times I get alerted by nutrition and public health scientists who raise concerns about a need for a suitable vehicle to deliver certain nutrients to solve prevalent nutrition issues. In this case, my work begins from a "wish list" from a human nutrition scientist about specific needs. And then, "good old chemistry" takes center stage... formulation phase... to design the nutrient vehicle - the food product. Once happy with the formulation, process design commences... and then the design is adjusted here and there until the sensory quality of the product becomes acceptable to the target population. And then, the ball goes back to to the nutrition scientist's court - is the body "happy" with our design? If yes, fantastic! If not... well, fantastic, too - more challenges to keep our minds occupied with extremely interesting and tasty stuff... other than football and tennis, that is! :)

And still, sometimes, I get inspired by sheer "nerdiness".... and the lab becomes a fantastic place for "child's play" - the totally crazy... but "responsible" kind. :) These days, however, "nerdiness" hasn't paid me a visit... serious illness aftermath, too? Maybe.

So, how are these related to "hide and seek"? Hmmm... not sure. I just feel that I need to explain what I do to some people who most generously and so kindly invite me to sit as panelist in human nutrition planning - for the country - or, to be the judge in a fierce cooking battle among seasoned chefs - whoa! :) While I absolutely appreciate the faith, and the opportunity to render my professional service for a good cause, I'm afraid, I am really just a "good old problem solver" who is happiest when working in a pilot plant, hitting those clogged pipelines with those beautiful rusty wrenches (not that I've been doing that lately - sad)... rather than in an immaculate health clinic or an awesome industrial kitchen with fancy vacuum sealers. :)

So, there! I wasn't really hiding when you came seeking for me to do a "non-problem solver's job"... I was just keeping things honest - professionally. So, don't feel bad, okay? :)

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