The ISU Food Product Development Team has once again put Iowa State on the map.

The ISU team has been selected for the final round of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Student Product Development’s Competition for the second time in four years.

The team’s product, “Pizza Sweets,” was one of six products selected from teams across the country, said Kris Spence, a graduate student in food science and human nutrition and a member of the team.

“Pizza Sweets” is a twin-rolled baked snack food. Half of the product is pizza flavored and the other half is cinnamon sugar flavored. The other final round products were selected from the University of Georgia, Cornell University, the University of Nebraska, Kansas State University and the University of California, Spence said.

To advance to the finals, the 11 graduate and undergraduate students had to develop a food product along every step of the process — from an initial concept and consumer product screening to the final formulation, processing and packaging of the food product. The product proposal was judged by a committee of food industry specialists.

The team has been working on its product since September 1996. At the National IFT meeting on June 14-18 in Orlando, Fla., the team will give an oral presentation on the development of the product and defend the product’s potential for production and market success, present a poster and provide samples for tasting. It will be judged by food product development scientists from major corporations.

The competition is sponsored by M&M/Mars. They give each finalist team $600 to cover travel expenses to the national competition and also provide funds for the awards of $1,000, $500 and $250 to the top three teams.

Team members have learned to combine all their classroom knowledge and lab skills with all the “real world” requirements of food safety, economical production and potentials for market success.

Cheryll Reitmeier, one of the two ISU food product development team’s advisers, said, the students “learn technical skills they wouldn’t normally get in the classroom.” She said some students in the past have “gained employment opportunities” from this competition.

Spence said this is “a great honor and a great opportunity to show our skills and to represent the department.”

Reitmeier also said the team has done a “fantastic job” and has “worked well as a team.”