CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICAN FOOD PROCESSORS VISIT WHEAT MARKETING CENTER TO STUDY ASIAN NOODLE TECHNOLOGY PORTLAND, OR (June 1, 2001) – Food processors from Central and South America will attend a week-long Asian Noodle Technology Short Course at the Wheat Marketing Center, June 4 through 8. Attendees are the director of ESLAMO, the Latin America Milling School in Venezuela, Mr. Andrea Saturno; the principle administrator of Molguaca Company, Mr. Giacomo Calabrese, Venezuela; and production manager of the new Modernos-INA plant in Honduras, Mr. Rodrigo Murua (headquarters of Modernos is located in Guatemala). The participants asked U.S. Wheat Associates for an Asian noodle technology course at the Wheat Marketing Center. Demand from consumers for quickly prepared, good value noodles and other Asian wheat-based products has grown rapidly in the hemisphere. U.S. Wheat teamed with the highly qualified food and research scientists and unique facilities at the Wheat Marketing Center to provide the course. Working at the Wheat Marketing Center’s Laboratory and Noodle Pilot Plant, the participants will gain an understanding of Asian noodle technology through testing different types of U.S. wheat, blending flour with specific ingredient mixtures, sheeting and slitting (cutting), and cooking to learn how to produce Asian noodles of the desired color, taste, and texture (bite) wanted by their consumers. Per capita consumption of Asian wheat-based products is high in the region as Asian populations continue to grow. There is also a growing interest in new food products, as well. According to Gary Hou, Asian Products Specialist and Course Director, “the participants’ purpose is to learn, test, and evaluate Asian noodles made from U.S. wheat samples, produced at our facilities, for desired color and texture The Short Course is sponsored by U.S. Wheat Associates and the Wheat Marketing Center. Contacts: John Oades, U.S. Wheat Associates, Portland, Telephone 503-223-8123 Gary Hou, Wheat Marketing Center, 503-295-0823 (Asian Products Specialist &Course Director) David Shelton, Wheat Marketing Center, 503-295-0823 (Executive Director) *The Asian Products Collaborative, started in 1993, is a project of U.S. Wheat Associates and the Wheat Marketing Center with objectives to: (1) understand Asian’s way of making and consuming noodles and other wheat products; (2) develop standard protocols for formulation, process, and evaluation methods, and (3) test new and existing hard white wheat varieties for use by Asian millers, noodle makers, and other food processors.   BACK Copyright© 2001-2002 Wheat Marketing Center, Inc., Portland, OR USA