A collaborative team of students from the University of Idaho and Washington State University recently finished 4th at the 2019 Idaho Milk Processors Association new production competition in Sun Valley.

 

Supported by Dairy West and judged by leading dairy farmers and industry experts, the annual contest challenges universities with strong nutrition and food science programs to create the most promising new food product containing at least 50% dairy ingredients.  Organizers say it connects bright kids to the dairy industry and provides them with an opportunity to grow and learn and gain leadership skills.

 

The Vandals and Cougars created Palouse Power Soup, a whey-based lentil and rice soup.  That 4th place finished earned the UI/WSU team $2,000.

 

Although ingredients include onion, olive oil, rice, lentils, chicken base, cumin, pepper, salt, garlic, paprika, and cayenne, the sweet whey used as its base accounts for 78% of the raw ingredients by weight. Boasting a thick, hearty texture and spicy, garlicky flavor, the soup contains no chemical preservatives, is gluten free and shelf-stable at room temperatures, and offers more protein and calcium than current products on the market. It also can be marketed as sustainable.

 

"Sweet whey is a byproduct of cheese manufacturing that is produced in large quantities," the UI-WSU team explained in its final report. "Palouse Power Soup utilizes whey in liquid form with no additional processing, so the use of whey in this soup consumes a lower amount of energy compared to whey powder manufacturing. Hence, our soup provides a feasible alternative for whey that would typically have been either processed or treated and discarded."

 

The team is comprised of WSU students Elizabeth Nalbandian and Paige Kershaw and UI students Fariba Zad Bagher Seighalani, Garrison Cox, Glenn Grout, Jonathan Brumley, Lovepreet Singh, Megan Damele, and Paladugula Moorti Prabhakara. Dr. Helen Joyner serves as faculty advisor.

 

Utah State University won the August 10th competition.  They not only earned some serious bragging rights, but $10,000, too for their grand-prize-winning new product idea -- Moogets, a delectable meatless chicken nugget substitute made with breaded, deep-fried paneer cheese.

 

Participating in IMPA's new product competition can be career defining, too. Last year's winning team from BYU recently inked a deal to license its Sparkling Scoops carbonated, hard-pack ice cream exclusively to a top U.S.-based multinational consumer foods manufacturer and marketer that's been a Fortune 500 company since the list's inception.

 

"The growing innovation these students bring to bear each year is incredible, and it's very exciting for our industry," new product competition chair Alan Reed says. "When we launched the competition 10 years ago, the teams were just suggesting basic, traditional dairy products and a few new flavors. Now we're seeing true innovation, and collectively I think this is the best group of new products students have entered since we began the competition."

 

Dr. Eric Bastian, vice president of industry relations for Dairy West and director of the Western Dairy Center at Utah State, concurs. "We've had some standout product concepts in the past, but every submission this year was a really good product," he says. "Even the fourth-place and fifth-place teams could have won the competition in prior years."

 

This year's grand-prize winner, Utah State University, says its Moogets meatless, cheese-based chicken nuggets are 100% vegetarian and a good source of protein, calcium, and vitamin B12. The recipe includes vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast to yield a meaty texture. And prior to being dipped in milk and coated with a breadcrumb/whey isolate powder mixture for frying, the nuggets are boiled in a vegetarian chicken broth to ensure uniform chicken flavor.

 

"Moogets have three times the amount of protein when compared to top vegetarian products already in stores, and also provide a great source of vitamins that vegetarians frequently have deficiencies in," the Utah State team writes in its final report. "Dairy protein, with the added benefit of extra calcium, gives our product a competitive edge in the growing vegetarian market. The use of whey protein isolate in the coating adds an additional source of high-quality protein.

 

"Vegetarians have a higher prevalence of vitamin B12 deficiency, which can lead to a number of health issues. Moogets provide a unique set of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to fill a need that is not currently being met in the marketplace. The target market for Moogets are vegetarians, as well as consumers looking to reduce or limit their meat intake."

 

 

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