Newswise — CHICAGO— The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is committed to fostering student innovation and scientific exploration of global food science issues. Food science students faced these issues head on as competitors and now three finalists have been announced and will move on in the IFT Global Student Innovation Challenge sponsored by Tate & Lyle.

This competition challenged graduate students to come up with an ingredient innovation in dairy desserts using one or more raw materials to improve texture, mouthfeel, sweetness, stability, health and wellness, and sensory properties.

In addition to delivering improvements, the dessert concepts had to incorporate an innovative food stabilizer system that delivers texture, matches up to consumer trends, and is fit for mass consumer market and commercial distribution (grocery stories, convenience marts, discount retailers), taking into account cost and availability of raw materials.

The winner will be announced at IFT15 in Chicago, July 11-14. The three individuals and products selected to compete in the competition finals include:

• Shintaro Pang, University of Massachusetts Amherst--ChiaTek: chia seed gums as a new ingredient to formulate new stabilizer blends in dairy desserts• Hanyu Yangcheng , Iowa State University--KIK food stabilizer system: a blend of natural hydrocolloids that add to the body, provides stability, improves mouthfeel, and enhances sweetness for low-fat dairy desserts• Ryan Murphy, Purdue University--InGluTech: a food stabilizer system for low-fat ice cream and frozen dairy products that delivers flexible benefits to texture, shelf life and health in a single dry blend

“The IFT Global Student Innovation Challenge is a great opportunity for graduate students from around the world to showcase not only their food science knowledge, but their creativity as well,” said Katie Lanfranki, Chair of the IFT Global Student Innovation Challenge. “And to top it off, this competition is fun because it’s all about desserts.”

“We at Tate & Lyle are very excited about our partnership with IFT and IFTSA in the first year of the Global Student Innovation Challenge,” said Luis Fernandez, Senior Vice President Global Applications, Tate & Lyle Specialty Food Ingredients. “Fostering relationships with students and universities around the world is a fantastic way to support future generations of food scientists.” All three finalists will be recognized at the IFT Student Association (IFTSA) Closing Ceremony. The winner will receive a plaque and an all-expense-paid trip to Tate & Lyle’s global innovation center in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

For more information about IFT15, please visit http://www.am-fe.ift.org/cms/ About IFT Founded in 1939, the Institute of Food Technologists is committed to advancing the science of food. Our non-profit scientific society—more than 17,000 members from more than 95 countries—brings together food scientists, technologists and related professionals from academia, government, and industry. For more information, please visit ift.org.About Tate & Lyle Tate & Lyle is a global provider of ingredients and solutions to the food, beverage and other industries, with operations in over 30 locations worldwide.

Tate & Lyle operates through two global divisions, Speciality Food Ingredients and Bulk Ingredients, supported by our Innovation and Commercial Development and Global Operations groups. The Group's strategy is to become a leading global provider of Speciality Food Ingredients through a disciplined focus on growth, and by driving Bulk Ingredients for sustained cash generation to fuel this growth.

Speciality Food Ingredients consists of three platforms: Texturants, which includes speciality starches and stabilisers; Sweeteners, which comprises nutritive sweeteners and our range of no-calorie sweeteners including SPLENDA® Sucralose; and our Health and Wellness portfolio which includes speciality fibres and our salt-reduction offering. Additionally, our Food Systems business provides a wide variety of blended ingredient solutions.

Tate & Lyle Bulk Ingredients includes bulk sweeteners, industrial starches and fermentation products