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Food Chemist Tomoki (Tom) Tanaka from Nippon
Flour Mills, Japan, PORTLAND, OR (January 24, 2002) – Since the first of June 2001, Tomoki (Tom) Tanaka has been studying the U.S. wheat industry -- all the way from the croplands in Montana to the Pacific Northwest's export elevators in Oregon, and Washington, to the Pendleton Flour Mills in both Oregon and Blackfoot, Idaho and a Cargill flour mill in Ogden, Utah, to the Wheat Marketing Center's research laboratory, where he participated in and conducted wheat and flour quality testing, milling, baking, and noodle making. Sent by Nippon Flour Mills as a part of their continuing quality control efforts in analyzing current U.S. wheat crops, Tanaka's six-month stay included examining wheat samples for noodle making, bread and cake baking. Bongil (Bon) Lee, Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) Laboratory Supervisor, has been the primary host for Tanaka. They worked hand-in-hand with the professional technical staff at the WMC's research and product development laboratory matching wheat crop attributes with Tanaka's information on Japan's changing and growing consumer demands for wheat-based foods. Study and evaluation of important product qualities not only included appearance, texture, flavor, and bite, but also a variety of dough handling and loaf volume characteristics that were tested and noted for bread products. Noodle products need many of the same taste and physical characteristics, including texture, appearance, color, and bite for consumer acceptance, but dough stickiness and water absorption levels become a very important part of the processing requirements during manufacture. Nippon Flour Mills (NFM), founded in Tokyo more than 100 years ago, employs 1,300 at seven flour mills, two premix plants, and three pasta plants including one in Montana. In addition, the company has affiliated plants in Thailand (a flour mill) and California (a premix facility). Production activities include flour milling, consumer foods, and frozen foods. Product lines include wheat flours; donut, cake, and bread mixes; pasta; dried noodles; wheat flour and premixes for home use such as for tempura flour; and specialty deli foods. Tanaka and Lee will again work together during the Spring of 2002, this time at Nippon Flour Mills (NFM) laboratories in Japan. Lee's work at NFM will include: synchronizing lab procedures, studying flour specifications for Japanese customers, and understanding wheat requirements for Japanese wheat foods. Copyright© 2001-2002 Wheat Marketing Center, Inc., Portland, OR USA |