The wafting scent of bacon drew University of Wisconsin students from across campus Monday to participate in a mouth-watering taste test.
Nearly 140 students lined up outside the Consumer Sensory Lab in Babcock Hall over five hours to sample the five different bacon products available, Luis Jimenez-Maroto, sensory coordinator at the Center for Dairy Research, said.
Bill Shazer, a graduate student in the Animal Sciences department, was the reason students across campus were able to sample free bacon. Shazer is completing his master’s project on sodium reduction in a variety of meats: beef jerky, summer sausage, boneless ham and bacon.
The project involves doing different treatments on sodium reduction and asking consumers to rate them based on how much they like them, he said.
Shazer is testing different levels of sodium in meats to determine the level at which the consumers still like the meat and what level consumers begin to notice the difference.
The project tests how a new ingredient is working and what the underlying science is, Jimenez-Maroto said. The project may result in a possibility for a healthier alternative for bacon, he said.
“We obviously know there is a lot of sodium in bacon and any way we can reduce that level while still maintaining the quality and flavor is a really good step towards giving the consumer a better product without sacrificing taste,” Shazer said.
Consumer tasting tests usually get 60 to 90 people a day on average, but bacon saw a much higher number, Jimenez-Maroto said. Shazer had a simple explanation for the findings.
“I mean, it’s bacon,” Shazer said. “Everybody loves bacon.”
Jimenez-Maroto also attributed the consumer tasting event’s success to social media.
Jimenez-Maroto said he posts on the Food Science Facebook page and Twitter account every time a consumer tasting occurs, but typically other food scientists and people in the surrounding buildings are the only ones that look at them. However, a few extra shares and re-tweets Monday transmitted the message across campus.
“This time [the tasting] was shared and re-tweeted by the UW-Madison accounts and the Horticulture accounts and bacon tasting is an interesting thing to talk about, so all of a sudden everybody on the campus was looking at it and showing up,” Jimenez-Maroto said.
Though some people had to wait in a longer line, the higher-than-average demand was met, he said.
Jimenez-Maroto hopes the popularity of the bacon testing transfers over to some of the other consumer taste projects. Many people signed up for the mailing list after taking part in the bacon tasting, he said.
Shazer said the high turnout Monday encouraged and surprised him. The project is a great way to involve consumers and hear them voice their opinion on they do and do not like about the product, he said.
“I think consumers really enjoy that type of process and being involved and getting to see the science behind it,” Shazer said.
The project still needs approximately 360 tasters. The next bacon tastings are tentatively set for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of next week, Jimenez-Maroto said.