The field of food and nutrition has been a major educational and research specialism at Sheffield Hallam University for several decades. On 12th September, SHU welcomed a group of students and staff from Garforth Academy in Leeds to undertake a hands-on Taster Day in Food and Nutrition, experiencing some of our fantastic industry standard facilities up on our 12th floor; such as:
- Development kitchens
- A food technology and processing area
- Sensory suite
- Food and nutrition laboratories
The day is one of three throughout the year put on by the department and was extremely well received by all involved. The Taster Days provide a great interactive opportunity for the students, an insight into the potential courses and careers in the subject area and allow students to get a feel for what life at Sheffield Hallam is like.
Students on the Taster Day were involved straight away in a session with academics on ‘physical measurements relevant to nutrition‘ where they got the chance to measure grip strength, full body measurements, jump impact and blood pressure. The group were then set up in our sensory suite for ‘sensory evaluation and consumer perception‘ where they used blue food colouring to count their taste buds, ascertain whether they are a non-taster, taster or super-taster and measured the bitterness of tonic and grapefruit juice. The ‘price and food‘ session provided a pre-lunch snack with students testing Sainsbury’s basic, mid and taste the difference products in a blind taste test. Our final session, ‘food risks and safer eating‘ involved students setting up shop in the kitchens to identify types of bacteria in a top trumps game, undertake handwashing activities and spot the signs of food preparation risks in an interactive video.
Feedback of the day:
100% of students rated the sessions in the Taster Day as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’
“A good insight into food related courses at the university”
“I found the sessions very useful”
“Very fun and enjoyable to take part in”
If you are interested in bringing a group along to the next Food and Nutrition Taster Day, please contact Beth Tranter (Senior Schools and Colleges Engagement Officer) on b.tranter@shu.ac.uk or 0114 225 6459.
