Doctoral Dissertation Research: Developments in the Food Science of Nutritious Processed Foods

在约瑟夫·马斯科教授的指导下，博士候选人埃拉·巴特勒将对致力于开发新的、有营养的、有吸引力的加工食品的食品科学家、风味化学家和感官科学家进行人种学研究。她的重点将是，如果科学家用其他成分替代糖或盐，那么科学家们将如何复制食物的味道、风味和质地的特性，例如，通过幽灵气味，这种化学物质旨在刺激神经通路产生想象中的感觉。该项目涉及神经生物学、记忆学、健康学、感官学和化学。鉴于许多加工食品对美国人健康的不良影响，这项研究将具有广泛的兴趣。在公众评论员、卫生专业人士和政治领导人努力应对不断上升的肥胖症和糖尿病之际，加工食品行业受到了严厉的批评。这种人类学的方法将传达科学家们的观点，他们正在努力制作更健康但仍然美味的产品。

Under the direction of Prof. Joseph Masco, Ph.D. candidate Ella Butler will undertake an ethnographic study of food scientists, flavor chemists and sensory scientists working on the development of new, nutritious, appealing processed foods. Her focus will be on how scientists work to replicate the properties of taste, flavor and texture of foods if they substitute other ingredients for sugar or salt through, for instance, phantom aromas, chemicals designed to stimulate neural pathways to produce imagined sensations. This project works at the intersection of neurobiology, memory, health, the senses and chemistry.Given the national concern with the ill effects of many processed foods on the health of the American population, this study will be of broad interest. As public commentators, health professionals and political leaders grapple with how to deal with rising levels of obesity and diabetes, the processed food industry has received serious criticism. This anthropological approach will convey the perspectives of the scientists who are working to craft healthier but still tasty products.