MUNDO
The Science of Sweet Treats – USC Viterbi
The Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science has recently launched a new confectionery manufacturing class. Image/Alexander Grey
A chemical engineering lab is not exactly where you’d expect to encounter the scent of rich caramel and the simmer of delicious molten chocolate. USC’s Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science has switched out beakers and pipettes for hard candy and nougat, harnessing the expertise of an industry-leading confectionery expert to lead the department’s new Confectionery Manufacturing class.
Eyal Ben-Yoseph is a process development engineer who has spent over two decades conjuring up some of your favorite sweet treats, leading the Breakthrough Technology team at Mars Wrigley. As part of his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Ben-Yoseph worked on a project with Kellogg’s where he harnessed computer models to ensure each Frosted Flake has the perfect level of snowy white frosting. At Mars, he was also instrumental in creating custom, personalized M&Ms. Now he brings his extensive experience to USC Viterbi, where he developed the new confectionery course for the Mork Department.
Ben-Yoseph and his students have been taking the base ingredient fundamental to all confectionery — sugar — and studying how engineering processes such as reactions and phase transitions can shape it into the wildly different forms, flavors and textures that make up the confectionery we know and love — from sugar shell candies such as M&Ms to chewy nougats, smooth fudges and soft fondants.
Eyal Ben-Yoseph teaching the confectionery engineering class. Image/William Wences.
“When we talk about candy, we’re talking about chemistry,” Ben-Yoseph said. “We’re talking about phase transition. Sugar has two phase states – it can be amorphous, like glass, and it can be crystalline, where it’s white, like sugar powder.”
Ben-Yoseph said that chemical engineering students come to his class well-versed in the theory that forms the basis of confectionery manufacturing — concepts such as chemical reactions and transport phenomena.
“I come from industry, so I wanted to show them how you can take everything you learn in your theory and use it in fun applications, for example, cooling chocolate in a cooling tunnel. That’s an engineering problem.”
One of the key candy manufacturing processes that the students learn is how to temper chocolate, a process of precise heating and cooling to stabilize and harden it into a glossy-surfaced product that doesn’t immediately melt in your hand but can be snapped into pieces ideal for sharing.
Ben-Yoseph said another of the unique challenges of confectionery manufacturing is ensuring the end product maintains a long shelf life.
“The important thing is microbial, chemical and physical stability. You don’t want your candy to change its properties like taste, appearance, or texture or get spoiled. You want it to maintain quality for a long time,” Ben-Yoseph said. “Take the Twix, for example. You don’t want the biscuit inside to be soggy. How do you make sure that the water doesn’t flow from the caramel to the biscuit? We talk to the students about modeling this moisture transfer. One trick is to coat your biscuit with something fatty because fat and water won’t mix.”
Chemical engineering students pour fudge onto the cooling surface. Image/William Wences.
Ben-Yoseph also challenges his students to think about their products from a consumer standpoint. Confectionery manufacturers must consider the public perception of ingredients such as artificial colorants and how natural alternatives may be more expensive to produce, less stable, and less vibrant – problems that engineers in the food industry need to overcome.
“Consumers want sustainable products and sustainable packaging. There’s so much work for a chemical engineer just thinking about developing reusable, recyclable, or upcycled packaging and reducing production energy and waste,” Ben-Yoseph said.
When piloting the course, Ben-Yoseph and his students needed to be creative in their improvised lab setup. But they soon discovered that you didn’t require elaborate equipment to create culinary magic – everything can be achieved in a home kitchen. A simple slab of marble from Home Depot served as a cooling surface for chocolate and candy, while the students used small portable burners to cook.
Naturally, Ben-Yoseph and his class were on hand to taste-test the end products (for purely academic purposes, of course).
A successful experiment. Students create a range of delicious candies as part of the confectionery manufacturing course. Image/William Wences.
“It’s part of the job, you know. Somebody has to do it.” Ben-Yoseph laughed. “They need to make sure the taste and texture are right and to write their lab report, describing what they did and anything that went wrong. To evaluate the quality of the product.”
Ben-Yoseph said that chemical engineering students are at a unique advantage for in-demand careers in the food industry, with their theoretical background and knowledge of fields like AI and data science, which can transform the industry.
“When you talk about data science, the food industry is a little bit behind compared to other industries, like petroleum and pharmaceuticals. But this is an opportunity for chemical engineering graduates to come and apply their knowledge, contribute, and make a difference,” Ben-Yoseph said.
CHE 499: Confectionery Manufacturing will take place once again during Spring 2025.
Published on October 29th, 2024
Last updated on October 30th, 2024
O Tribunal Constitucional da Coréia do Sul governará na sexta -feira se deve defender o Impeachment de Yoon Suk Yeolmeses após a declaração de direito marcial do presidente conservador, jogou o país no caos.
O Tribunal está agendado se reunirá em uma sessão televisionada nacionalmente marcada para começar às 11h (0200 GMT) para um veredicto decidir se Yoon retorna ao cargo ou foi removido permanentemente.
Pelo menos seis dos oito juízes devem votar a favor para defender o impeachment de Yoon.
Por que o presidente foi preso?
Yoon foi preso e acusado pelos promotores em janeiro em relação à sua decisão de 3 de dezembro de declarar a lei marcial, uma medida que mergulhou o país em turbulência política.
O Parlamento liderado pela oposição da Coréia do Sul votou posteriormente a impeachment de Yoon em meados de dezembro, levando à sua suspensão do cargo.
Após seu impeachment, o homem de 64 anos resistiu à prisão por duas semanas em seu complexo presidencial no centro de Seul.
Desde então, Yoon defendeu a imposição de curta duração da lei marcial como uma “proclamação de que a nação estava enfrentando uma crise existencial”.
Em março, o Tribunal Distrital Central de Seul cancelou o mandado de prisão de Yoon, citando o momento de sua acusação e “perguntas sobre a legalidade” da investigação e o libertou da prisão.
O que acontece a seguir?
Se impugnado, a Coréia do Sul terá que eleger um novo presidente nos próximos 60 dias.
Yoon também está enfrentando um julgamento criminal paralelo sobre as acusações de insurreição relacionadas à declaração da lei marcial.
Ele é o primeiro presidente sul -coreano a ser julgado em um processo criminal. Espera -se que o caso se arraste além de seu impeachment.
Editado por: Zac Crellin
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