A team from Penn State University took home top honors in a space product development contest for a vegetable spread designed for astronauts. The annual competition is sponsored by the NASA Food Technology Commercial Space Center (FTCSC) at Iowa State University. Veg@eez is a three-layer vegetable spread designed specifically for space travel. It is nutritious, shelf-stable, easy to prepare, convenient to eat, requires no additional water and has a tricolor appearance designed to increase the appeal of the product. "The product is well suited for space as it utilizes vegetables that will potentially be grown on the Moon or Mars outpost," said Cheryll Reitmeier, FTCSC education mission specialist and competition coordinator. Veg@eez is made from minimally processed spinach, chard, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and radishes. The vegetables are combined with a blend of spices consisting of oregano, salt, vinegar and olive oil. While originally designed for space, Veg@eez also could be of interest in the terrestrial market. It could be used as a sandwich spread, filling for tortillas or as a dip. The product contains no saturated fat, cholesterol or sugars, and is high in fiber and micronutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C and folate. The competition was established in 2001 to increase awareness among food science and technology students about foods and food-processing techniques required for long-term space travel. Student teams from universities across the United States are challenged to design food products or processing systems to meet the criteria for missions to the Moon or planetary outposts. The products need to be based on the crops grown in space, easily prepared, nutritious, safe to eat, have few crumbs and taste good. Food scientists from NASA and commercial food companies evaluate the student proposals and products. The Penn State team will travel to the Institute of Food Technologists Annual Meeting and Food Expo®, in Las Vegas, Nev., July 12-16 to showcase their product idea. The students also will have the opportunity to present Veg@eez to NASA scientists and FTCSC commercial partners at the Johnson Space Center in November. The NASA Food Technology Commercial Space Center was established in 1999 to develop foods and food-processing technologies that enhance space missions and advance commercial food products.
Eat Your Vegetables — Especially in Space
May 12, 2004