It’s made of corn, has a flavored coating and Iowa State students invented it. Skoochos, a tasty new treat, will not, however, be available in stores.

The ISU Food Science Team has been developing this new food product since October of 1995 and the work has finally paid off.

The six-member team received an honorable mention rating at a national contest in late June. The contest was part of the Institute of Food Technologists’ annual convention in New Orleans.

Skoochos, a corn-based snack with a flavored coating and a complimentary dip, was presented to the judges. Along with the snack, the team presented a 20-page proposal describing the snack production process.

Skoochos is stick-shaped and the flavored coating can be either a cinnamon and sugar combination with an apple dip, or an herb flavor with a tomato-marinara dip.

“We prepared a 10-minute slide presentation, a poster session and then judges sampled the product,” ISU team captain Amy Mangold said.

The product is comparable to the popular vending machine snacks, but the development is only for theoretical purposes. Another possible competitor for the snack would be fast food restaurants that sell chips or dessert items.

ISU was selected from a preliminary session of 14 teams to travel to New Orleans where team members competed against five other teams. The New Orleans trip marked the ISU snack team’s first invitation to the final round of competition.

Pam White, interim chair of the Food Science Department, said this type of project is comprehensive because the students have to learn the nutritional value, the production, the packaging and the marketing processes involved with developing a snack food.

“Through this competition, the excellence of our students will be recognized nationally and internationally,” White said. “Hopefully there will be another group of students who will be interested in developing a new product again next year.”