Natural Coloring Competitions for Students (2011 – 2012)

Overview

Have you ever heard the expression “we eat with our eyes”? We all love eating great-tasting food, but first, we gravitate to those foods and drinks that catch our eyes. At D.D. Williamson, we are proud to help the food industry make great-looking foods and beverages. We have even made it our mission to improve the allure of foods and beverages through visual appeal.

We would like to share our enthusiasm for naturally derived food coloring and the impact it has on the industry. We have commenced our second annual beverage or food coloring competition to spread the excitement of working with color to create more alluring foods and beverages. The competition will also encourage the use of technical problem solving skills, learned in food science, with the challenges of working with naturally derived colors.

The two winners will receive a trip to the 2012 IFT annual meeting in Las Vegas and have their project displayed at the D.D. Williamson booth in the IFT Food Expo.

Purpose

The purpose of the competition is to:

• Encourage learning about natural colors and their use in food applications.
• Promote innovative thinking and use of technical problem solving in product development
• Link food science students with the food ingredient industry

This competition is open to all current members of the IFT Student Association.

Timeline

General Competition Rules

Phase I Abstracts: Entries to consist of an abstract describing the use of naturally derived colors in an innovative food or beverage application. This can include, but not limited to, matching a current marketplace beverage or formulating a new food or beverage with D.D. Williamson natural colors. Judges will evaluate the technical problem solving skills used in product development and the potential success of product in today’s market.

Phase II Finalist Competition: Entrants/Team Captains will receive a set of naturally derived colors from D.D. Williamson for use in their beverage or food development process. Judges will evaluate the technical problem solving skills with three criteria: 1) Product Development Report 2) Food or Beverage Product Sample 3) Poster.

Eligibility

1. Each entrant must be enrolled in a full-time in a Food Science/Technology or related undergraduate or graduate program through the spring term 2012.
2. Each entrant must be a current member of the IFT Student Association (IFTSA).
3. Each entrant/Team Captains may only submit one (1) entry per year.
4. Entries must be students’ work. Professors or industry experts may be consulted and referenced, but they may not be a major contributor to the actual work.
5. Industry support such as donation of ingredients or use of equipment is allowed and encouraged, but should not be acknowledged by any entrant in the abstract.
6. Projects from product development classes are eligible for submission.
7. MS, Ph.D., or summer internship projects are not eligible for submission.
8. There is no limit on the number of team members; however, only the Team Captain of the winning team will receive the award as listed on pg. 6.

Abstract

1. Abstracts should include the proposed food or beverage type/category and reasoning, the predicted challenges of working naturally derived coloring(s) in the proposed food or beverage system and the processing to manufacture the food or beverage on a commercial scale.
2. References: All references cited within the abstract will be referred to with a number in or at the end of the sentence in which the reference was used. The list of references is not included in the 250 word maximum. If a problem arises with reference credibility a judge may contact the Product Development Chair for verification.
3. The abstract must have a maximum of 250 words.
4. Include the entrant’s/Team Captain’s contact information in the abstract: Entrant/team member name(s), phone number, address and email of the entrant/Team Captain.
5. Email the abstract to the D.D. Williamson Competition Chair, Anne Hampton (contact information on pg. 6).

Finalists

All entrants/Team Captains will be notified by December 10, 2010 if their abstract has been approved for the final round of the Natural Coloring Competition. Upon approval, the entrants/Team Captain will receive a set of natural coloring samples from D.D. Williamson for use in their food or beverage development.

Final proposals will be scored on a basis of 200 points, distributed as follows:

Product Development Report (100 points)

1. The maximum number of pages for the Product Development Report is ten (10). This does NOT include the title page.
2. There is no specified format for the title page. However it must include the title of the proposal, date and a list of donors or other contributors.
3. A brief, separate cover letter from the Department Head, verifying originality of work and the team’s compliance with the competition rules, is to be included.
4. Include digital photo attachment(s) of the beverage or food and/or process.
5. References should be added at the end of the proposal.
6. The list below includes areas that may be covered, but are not limited too, in the final proposal.
   1. Technical Problem Solving
      1. Coloring choice and reason for selection
      2. Coloring interaction with other functional ingredients
      3. Product formulation
      4. Packaging description and reasoning for selection (does not have to be the same package as the sample shipped to the judges).
   2. Originality
      1. Product description
      2. Market potential
   3. Process description
      1. Process description and reason for selection
      2. Process flow diagram
   4. Safety/Shelf-life
      1. Safety evaluation with respect to formulations, functionality and processing
      2. Ingredient statement for beverage or food label
      3. Good Manufacturing Processes (GMPs)
      4. Expected shelf-life

Beverage or Food Product Sample (50 points)

Each entrant/Team Captain will send a sample of their beverage or food to the D.D. Williamson Competition Chair. The beverage or food does not need to be contained within the intended packaging as described in the written proposal.

Poster (50 points)

Each entrant/Team Captain will need to send (electronically) a poster presentation of their project with the following dimensions (39” wide x 49” high).

Awards

• The winning entrant/Team Captain will receive domestic airfare to attend the 2011 IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo (New Orleans, June 11 – 15, 2011) and $700 towards meals, lodging and other travel expenses.
• The winning entrant/Team Captain will have their poster displayed at D.D. Williamson’s expo booth and have one scheduled appearance to present their project.
• Each of the finalist entrants/teams will receive a certificate.

Guidelines

• The D.D. Williamson Competition Chair is Anne Hampton:
  • Anne.Hampton@ddwmson.com
  • D.D. Williamson Global Support Center
  • 100 South Spring St.
  • Louisville, KY 40206
• The focus of this competition is on food science product development skills utilizing natural colors in a beverage or food application. Judges will not give points for package graphics or other advertising material.
• All materials will need to be in English.
• All beverages and foods must be formulated with colorants that are approved for use in United States.
• All competing entrant/Team Captains will be informed if their abstract has qualified for the final round of the competition.
• All Abstract and Product Development Reports are to be emailed to the D.D. Williamson Competition Chair. Beverage or food samples for the Natural Coloring Competition will be mailed to the Competition Chair. All materials will need to be received on or before deadlines listed in Timeline (see Overview)..
• Entering into the D.D. Williamson Natural Color Application Student Competition DOES NOT preclude the entry of this project/concept into other development competitions.
• Note: Patent rights belong to the individual teams and will be handled according to University patent policies. D.D. Williamson does not claim any responsibility or rights for product development ideas presented in this competition.
• If a competition rule has been breached, the Competition Chair will present a report detailing the infraction(s) to the judges. The entrant/Team Captain will be provided a sufficient amount of time to defend their actions to the judges. The judges reserve the exclusive right to make a decision regarding the case. Judges will communicate their decision to both the Competition Chair and the entrant/Team Captain.
• Failure to comply with any of the rules of the competition may result in penalization of entrant, including disqualification at the discretion of the judges and the Competition Chair.