Salt and Vinegar Science
By Dr Elaine Hickmott,
Development Director, EH Enterprises
When you hear the word science
what is the first thing that comes into your head? Whatever it may be, I bet it’s not the image
of a bag of your favourite potato crisps.
While speaking to the excellent Rachel Melvin of McLaren
Automotive at SATRO’s recent volunteer event, our conversation turned to the
wonderful world of manufacturing. As we
chatted about just how much we both love it, we began discussing the BBC2 series,
Inside The Factory; in particular the
episode about crisps. Oh my word, the
STEM involved in producing, packaging and distributing these popular snacks is
quite amazing.
With these thoughts in my head and our science-themed STEMalive! event on 16 November fast
approaching, there was nothing for it; a blog post about science and crisps was
most definitely in order. So let’s take
a look at some examples of how science is an essential component in a pack of our
special snacks.
Add in biology to...
... ensure the core ingredient is the best.
It may be the star of the show but not every potato can make
a crisp and with thousands of varieties world-wide, selecting and growing the
most suitable ones takes more input than you may first imagine. Before we even get to the manufacturing site,
farmers are growing the potatoes. For
them to achieve the yields, textures, characteristics and storage profiles
needed, the biologists have to lend a helping hand with selecting and breeding
suitable varieties of potato. Biology
obviously plays an important role in taking our spuds from soil to snack.
Add in physics to...
...give the crispiness and crunch we desire.
In Alex Babbs’ physics careers blog post about physics and
food, John Bows, Technology Innovation Manager at PepsiCo Europe R&D
explains how physics is critical in the production of a perfect crisp. It enables manufacturers to understand more
about how potato slices behave when they are cooked. These insights include understanding the surface
tension of potato slices and looking at how processing affects their structure. Cooking potatoes on an industrial scale in a
way which brings us crisps with the crunch we expect certainly requires physics
to play its part.
Add in chemistry
to...
... create the tastes we know and love.
Flavour chemists are working hard behind the scenes creating
a huge variety of tastes and flavours to satisfy our diverse palates. They blend a range of chemicals and extracts
to safely produce the taste experience we expect when we dive into our packet
of crisps. Working with parts per
billion here and parts per billion there, these flavours not only have to
satisfy us, they must also withstand the manufacturing process and
storage. Our everyday snacks certainly
require chemistry to help pack a punch when it comes to taste.
Next time you’re tucking into your favourite bag of crisps
remember it is brought to you by those three special ingredients, physics,
chemistry and biology.
- Elaine Hickmott
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