Students’ granola-yogurt fruit cup may scoop up national honors

A group of UW–Madison food science students have spent the past year developing what may be the next big thing to hit grocery shelves.

After a national contest sponsored by the Institute of Food Technologists, the UW–Madison group has been selected as one of six teams to display their innovative product at the IFT’s annual meeting and expo in New Orleans on Sunday and Monday, July 17 and 18.

Led by graduate student Rachel Prososki, the team will present “Healthy sTarts” – a granola cup coated with strawberry-flavored yogurt and topped with strawberries and blueberries – in the prestigious competition. In addition to cash prizes for the top teams, the new products sometimes catch the eye of food companies looking for new product lines.

As well as providing samples to the judges for a taste test, the team will give an oral presentation, a question-and-answer session, a skit and a poster presentation. Prososki will know the results of the competition by the evening of Monday, July 18. In past years, UW–Madison teams have fared well in this competition.

In addition to Healthy sTarts, the UW–Madison team has another product to unveil at the IFT meeting: The students won a national contest sponsored by the California Almond Board to develop a product featuring almonds. Prososki and her group created “Cone-Coxions,” an almond-based mini waffle cone coated on the inside with dark chocolate and dusted with almond powder.

Wisconsin students on the team include: Leah Anderson, Chippewa Falls; Bradley Bolling, Burlington; Peter Weber, New Glarus. Kristen Blaschek is from Champaign, Ill., and Rachel Prososki is from Pine River, Minn.