07 Sep Global award for innovative veggie chocolate created by Stellies students
An ingenious and more nutritious version of the popular choc-hazelnut spread, Nutella, has earned its Stellenbosch food science student developers global recognition and acclaim.
The six final year food science students took second place against global competition in the International Union of Food Science and Technology’s (IUFoST) ‘Food Science Students Fighting Hunger’ product development competition, and awarded at the IUFoST global congress in Dublin recently (22 August).
The award was presented to Cenette Bezuidenhout, Carin-Marie Engelbrecht‚ Nicholas Grobbelaar‚ Taryn Harding‚ Shannon Howell and Megan Kleyn at the IUFoST World Congress of Food Science and Technology in Dublin, Ireland, on Tuesday 23 August.
Their S’cool Beans sandwich spread tastes like chocolate and hazelnuts, but is actually crammed with highly nutritious sweet potato and sugar beans -and has less than half the sugar of traditional chocolate spreads.
The spread is high in protein and contains the necessary vitamins and minerals needed to ensure the development and growth of children.
And if the reactions of the conference delegates who tasted it are anything to go by, the “veggies by stealth” spread is a winner. “Where can I buy it?” many of them wanted to know.
It was not on sale, the students having made a small batch of S’Cool Beans in their university’s food science department lab, but its retail cost would be around R20 for a 400ml jar – if it makes it into mass production.
| Cape Town’s BANTING BLVD won first place in the category ‘Product and/or process innovation’ in the global innovation awards at the IUFoST World Congress for its HEBA low carb maize substitute. |
The students’ aim is to get the spread into school feeding schemes, where it will have the most impact.
“That’s our dream — to get it to the people who need it the most, but of course we’d love to see it on supermarket shelves as well, as all children will benefit from it,” said Engelbrecht.
The award will certainly increase the chances of that happening. Already several South African corporates have reportedly approached the students with a view to commercialising the product.
“I think that the prize that we received today proves that other people in the food industry have the same vision for S’Cool Beans as we do,” Engelbrecht said. “And that food scientists in SA have what it takes to compete with the best in the world.”
Source: Stellenbosch University; BDLive.co.za