Released on: April 1, 2008, 8:37 am

Press Release Author: Thomas R. Cutler

Industry: Marketing

Press Release Summary: Manufacturing Journalist TR Cutler Examines Role of Women in
Food Quality

Press Release Body: Manufacturing journalist, Thomas R. Cutler recently profiled,
The Role of Women in Food Quality in the current issue of IFSQN (International Food
Safety and Quality Network.) The full article can be read at
http://ifsqn.com/articles_detail.php?newsdesk_id=465&t=The+Increasing+Role+of+Women+in+Food+Quality.
According to Cutler, "Industrial manufacturing is not the only industry that is
experiencing changes from the influx of women; the food science field is actually
seeing a complete turnaround in the ratio of men to women. "Food science has as its
cornerstone chemistry, microbiology, engineering, and nutrition," explained Dr.
Stephanie Doores, Ph.D., undergraduate program and placement coordinator for Penn
State University's Department of Food Science. "About thirty years ago, the student
population was mostly male and now we are predominantly female."
According to Doores, women bring certain skill sets to food science that makes them
successful employees. She lists "better attention to detail, good at time
management, and the ability to work well in a team setting" among the beneficial
qualities that women bring to the workforce. In the food industry, a lot of the
development work is done in team settings. "You might have a chemist, a
microbiologist, an engineer and a sensory person (someone who tastes food products)
working together on a project," said Doores. "Women work very well in these team
settings and are especially good at 'juggling' a lot of different projects."
The increase of women in the field of food science is also being seen at Chapman
University in Orange, California, where Professor of Food Science, Dr. Anuradha
Prakash, Ph.D., noted that the ratio of men to women is 80/20; "About ten years ago
it was sixty percent women, and another ten years before that it was just the
opposite."
The innovative nature of food science is also more attractive to women. It can be a
very creative field, where new foods and food ingredients are developed. Prakash
insisted, "It's not just chefs who exercise their creativity; food scientists do
that as well." As seen in the industrial manufacturing world, women's ability to
pay attention to detail is also touted as a reason why more women are being employed
in the quality control and quality assurance (QA/QC) areas of food science. "When
we walk through food factories and plants, you see a lot more women employed in
QA/QC," and she believes it is a woman's ability to be very careful about details
that makes them so good at these jobs. "I've noticed that it is always the women on
the QA floor that are the 'pickiest' in terms of making sure a food product meets
quality standards," argued Prakash. Women are bringing to the food industry an
increased emphasis on health and food safety. With more women in the food science
field, the direct connection between food and health will come to the forefront.
About TR Cutler, Inc.:
TR Cutler, Inc. (www.trcutlerinc.com) was founded by Thomas R. Cutler almost a
decade ago. Cutler maintains extraordinary relationships with clients, journalists,
editors, trendsetters, and key business leaders worldwide and has become a key
resource for those writing about the manufacturing sector.
Thomas R. Cutler is the most frequently published manufacturing journalist and
serves as contributed contributing editor more than three hundred publications
annual. The scope of publications ranges from Automation.com to Quality Digest. A
sample of Cutler's feature articles can be located on the TR Cutler, Inc. website.

TR Cutler, Inc.
www.trcutlerinc.com
Thomas Cutler
trcutler@trcutlerinc.com
888-902-0300



Web Site: http://www.trcutlerinc.com

Contact Details: TR Cutler, Inc.
3032 S. Oakland Forest Dr.
Suite 2803
Ft. Lauderdale, Fl 33309
888-902-0300