TPO 09
Conversation 1
Listen to a conversation between a student and her professor.
P: Before we get started, I...I just wanted to say I’m glad you chose food science for your major courses study.
S: Yeah, it seems like a great industry to get involved with. I mean with the four-year degree in food science, I9;ll always be able to find a job.
P: You9;re absolutely right. Before entering academia, I worked as a scientist for several food manufacturers and for the US Food and Drug Administration. I even worked on a commercial fishing boat in Alaska a couple of summers while I was an undergraduate. We bring in the day9;s catch to a floating processor boat where the fish got cleaned, packaged and frozen right at sea.
S: That9;s amazing! As a matter of fact, I9;m sort of interested in food packaging.
P: Well, for that, you9;ll need a strong background in physics, math and chemistry.
S: Those are my best subjects. For a long time, I was leading towards getting my degree in engineering.
P: Well, then you should have a problem. And fortunately, at this university, the department of food science offers a program in food packaging. Elsewhere, you might have to hammer courses together on your own.
S: I guess I like it a lot then. I am… so since my appointment today is to discuss my term paper topic, I wanted to ask, could I write about food packaging? I realize we9;re supposed to research food-born bacteria, but food packaging must play a role in all of that, right?
P: Absolutely! Maybe you should do some preliminary research on that.
S: I have! That9;s the problem. I9;m overwhelmed.
P: Well, in your reading, did anything interest you in particular? I mean something you’d like to investigate.
S: well, I was surprised about the different types of packaging used for milk. You know, clear plastic bottles, opaque bottles, carton board containers...
P: True! In fact, the type of packaging has something to do with the way milk9;s treated against bacteria.
S: Yeah, and I read a study that showed how light can give milk a funny flavor and decrease the nutritional value. And yet most milk bottles are unclear. What9;s up about that?
P: Well consumers like being able to visually examine the color of the milk. That might be one reason that opaque bottles haven9;t really called on. But that study... I9;m sure there is more study on the subject. You shouldn9;t base your paper on only one study.
S: Maybe I should write about those opaque plastic bottles. Find out if there are any scientific reasons they aren9;t used more widely? Maybe opaque bottles aren9;t as good at keeping bacteria from growing in milk after the bottle has been opened for something… but where to begin researching this? I don9;t have a...
P: You know, there is a dairy not far from here in Chelsea. It was one of the first diaries to bottle milk in opaque plastic, but now they9;re using clear plastic began. And they9;re always very supportive of the university and our students, and if you want it...
S: Yeah, I like that idea.