Flavor Scientist

Reflections on 2012 and looking forward to 2013

December 29, 2012 by Susie Bautista Leave a Comment

As we approach the end of 2012, it is time to reflect on the past year of flavorscientist. The searched terms that brought readers to www.flavorscientist.com include the following: Chobani nutritional value (over 8,000 searches) Starbucks Refreshers ingredients (over 2,400 searches) are Belvita biscuits good for you (over 1400 searches) is Sobe Coconut water good for you (over 450 searches) how much caffeine in Starbucks Refreshers (over 300 searches) We want to know what is in the food we buy and how it affects our body. The term used in the food industry is transparency. How our food is grown, produced, developed and marketed is not information that the food industry is always willing to share. The industry is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: flavor and family Tagged With: caffeine labeling, caffeine level, food industry, healthy, NUTrition, transparency

Neuro®Sun Non Carbonated Nutritional Supplement

December 26, 2012 by Susie Bautista 1 Comment

What's your first thought when you see the Neuro bottle? Mine is shampoo. The price is similar to shampoo as well: $2.39/bottle. For the price tag, you'll get a pinacolada flavored beverage, a fun bottle with a "shot glass" topper and 1000IU of Vitamin D. Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because it is produced by the body in response to sunlight. Lack of Vitamin D causes rickets (results in skeletal deformities) and has been implemented in multiple sclerosis, hypertension, depression, and diabetes. Legally,a food or beverage item sold in the United States needs FDA approval for generalized health claims. The FDA, however, allows nutritional supplements to have generalized health benefit claims. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: beverage Tagged With: beverage, FDA, FDCA, flavor, Neuro, NeuroSun, nutritional supplement, pinacolada

Safety, Hunger and Our Children

December 22, 2012 by Susie Bautista Leave a Comment

Last week, I anxiously checked my email waiting the response of my professor on my Food Safety Toxicology final paper. It was a paper discussing toxicology issues related to 4-Methylimidazole (found in caramel color) and I worked very hard on this paper. Toxicology is a difficult class, but the amount of knowledge I gained was more than worth it. I opened an email from my professor to learn I received a perfect score and an A in the class, only to see another email from the school district my children attend. The email from the school district mentioned a school shooting. I logged into nbcnews.com to learn more about the shooting. When I read the details of the shooting ;"a kindergarten teacher and 18 children dead", I broke … [Read more...]

Filed Under: flavor and family Tagged With: children, Food Safety, food toxicology, human life

Blue Diamond Toasted Coconut Flavored Almonds, Flavor Review

November 19, 2012 by Susie Bautista Leave a Comment

Coconut evokes memories of palm trees and fresh-cut coconut served roadside in Hawaii. Just seeing the coconut and palm tree picture on the Blue Diamond toasted coconut flavor almonds relaxes me. Or maybe I’m relaxed because I’m on a plane headed to Maui? Those of us that love coconut might have memories of eating authentic coconut beachside while others might associate coconut with cosmetic items such as suntan lotion. The reality is that not everyone likes coconut as a flavor and that some despise it. Coconut is a polarizing flavor. Since I love coconut flavor, it’s difficult to understand why some people hate it. When I taste a product like Blue Diamond toasted coconut almonds, I understand why some people despise coconut. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: sweet snacks Tagged With: almonds, blue diamond, coconut flavor, flavor, toasted coconut

Stride Shaun White mintacular artificially flavored sugar free chewing gum

November 10, 2012 by Susie Bautista Leave a Comment

Shaun White is spectacular, but the chewing gum mintacular is not. It warms anyone's heart to hear the story of Shaun White overcoming a heart defect and eventually become an Olympic athlete. Mintacular, however, is just ANOTHER spearmint and melon artificially flavored chewing gum. The flavor reminds me of a cleaning compound or a shampoo, it is very cosmetic. The aqua color seems a bit cosmetic as well. A current trend is spearmint gum is to combine it with an artificial melon flavor. Spearmint gums from Stride, Trident and Mentos all have this flavor blend. Wrigley 5 Rain and Ice Breaker Ice Cube spearmint gums have an authentic spearmint flavor. Spearmint and melon flavored gums on the market are reliant on synthetic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: chewing gum Tagged With: chewing gum, l-carvone, l-menthol, melon flavor, mint flavor, mintacular, shaun white, Spearmint, spearmint flavor, stride

Sauté Express Land O Lakes, Seasoned Butter & Olive Oil Starter, flavor review

November 7, 2012 by Susie Bautista Leave a Comment

Working moms try to do it all, myself included. Nine years into motherhood, I've concluded, that I can not do it all. I need help. Sometimes I ask for help, hire help or prepare simpler meals. Simple meals tend to lack taste and nutritional. Sauté Express is a unique "helper" and I wonder if the convenience is worth it. An average cook will have a difficult preparing a better blend than Land O Lakes. (It's better than anything I could come up with in the kitchen) Sauté Express Garlic & Herb is impressive. Sauté Express combines butter, olive oil, garlic, spices, salt, pepper, herbs and lemon in one little square. The balance of garlic flavor with the other subtle flavors is amazing. The garlic flavor is extremely fresh and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: meals/sides Tagged With: dinner, easy preparation, flavor, Land o Lakes, review, Saute Express

Jell-O Pumpkin Spice instant pudding & pie filling, flavor review

October 24, 2012 by Susie Bautista Leave a Comment

Time to put my kids to work! A great way to get kids in the kitchen preparing food is Jell-O instant pie filling. In the case of pumpkin spice, it's an opportunity for my children to make their first pie, Jell-O pudding pumpkin pie. Before preparing the pie filling,we made a graham cracker crust, using a recipe from www.food.com. It took about 15 minutes to make this crust. Once the crust began to cool, my older daughter followed the directions on the package of Jello-O and made a traditional pudding pie. She used a crank hand mixer; so I needn't worry about her getting hurt by an electric mixer. The pie looks delicious, reminiscent of a traditional custard pumpkin pie, but with about 1/8 of the time to prepare. Not only did … [Read more...]

Filed Under: dessert Tagged With: Jell-O, kids in the kitchen, pie filling, pudding, Pumpkin spice, tetrasodium phosphate

Almond ROCA® Cream, an indulgent wine flavor review

October 21, 2012 by Susie Bautista 1 Comment

Almond ROCA Cream, Indulgent Flavored Wine

Almond ROCA® Cream, is reminiscent of a cream liqueur: a sweet, creamy flavored high alcohol beverage. In many ways, Almond ROCA® Cream is similar to Baileys®Irish Cream. Baileys® is a sweetened whiskey and cream beverage that has 17% alcohol by volume; while Almond ROCA® Cream is a sweetened wine and cream beverage that has 14% alcohol by volume. ROCA® Cream is good enjoyed like Baileys®: over ice mixed with milk, in coffee, or over ice cream. A flavor scientist would blend a Baileys® flavor by mixing vanilla, chocolate and cream flavor. A flavor for a ROCA® Cream would consist of almond flavor, chocolate flavor and toffee flavor. Toffee flavor includes flavor aromatics like Furaneol and 3,4, Dimethyl 1,2 cyclopentadione. These … [Read more...]

Filed Under: beverage Tagged With: almond roca, chocolate wine, Christmas gift, cream, flavored wine, indulgent wine

Kraft Fresh Take, Italian Parmesan recipe, flavor review

October 20, 2012 by Susie Bautista Leave a Comment

My grandmother was a huge influence on my life. She was born in 1892 in Coffey, Missouri and was raised on a farm. Circa 1915 she moved to the San Francisco Bay area, raised my father in Berkeley, California and spent her last 25 years in an in-law unit attached to my family’s house in Orangevale, California. She told me stories of life on the farm, which I idolized and helped create my obsession with the “Little House” series by Laura Ingalls Wilder(http://www.liwfrontiergirl.com/). She read to me, taught me math facts, taught me how to cook and clean and let me do her weekly grocery shopping. Because of that, my obsession with the food market started at a young age. Grandma had me cook dinner once a week. For unknown reasons, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: flavor and family, meals/sides Tagged With: Chicken, convenience food, food revolution, Fresh take, Grandmother, Italian Parmesan, Kraft, Prepared food, Shake N Bake

Darigold Pumpkin Spice Egg Nog, flavor review

October 14, 2012 by Susie Bautista 2 Comments

Just when I thought I could not stand another pumpkin flavored product, I find this pumpkin spice egg nog from Darigold. A seasonal weakness of mine is egg nog lattes and I have been know to hoard several 1/2 gallon containers in my frig, so I can have these delicious warm beverages way into late January. I am happy to get a "jump start" on the season with this new pumpkin spice egg nog; even though pumpkin is a flavor that has begun to wear out its welcome. Food writers are indicating that pumpkin risks falling into the ranks of flavors such as pomegranate. http://bites.today.com/_news/2012/10/02/14181734-in-defense-of-pumpkin-products-that-get-the-flavor-right?lite Dairies prepare for the holiday season late spring/early summer and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: beverage Tagged With: Darigold, Egg Nog, flavor, latte, Pumpkin spice