In an ongoing effort to offer members up-to-date educational programs, SFA has teamed up again with Texas A&M University to co-sponsor a weeklong Practical Short Course in Snack Foods Processing. The short course will be held March 6-11, 2005, conveniently the week before SNAXPO 2005, on the Texas A&M campus in College Station, Texas. This course offers a great opportunity for domestic and international SFA members to learn the basics about a wide range of snack food-processing topics before attending the industry’s premier annual conference, SNAXPO 2005, in Hollywood, Fla.

The course will begin with a Texas-style barbecue and tour of the George W. Bush Presidential Library in the afternoon on Sun., March 6. For the next five days, 22 speakers will lead the class through a series of lectures and hands-on processing demonstrations.

Some of the many lectures scheduled are Establishment of Snack Food Plants; Equipment Demonstrations for Extruded Baked and Fried Snacks; Processes for Electrostatic Seasoning; Nixtamalization of Maize for Snack Food Use; Raw Material Specifications for Expanded Snacks; Flavors: Seasonings, Salt and Cheese for Snack Foods; Overview of Pretzel and Baked Snacks Processing; and Popcorn and its Requirements.

There also will be sessions on single- and twin-screw extruders, the use of computers to ensure a smooth process and the selection of packaging materials to increase the shelf life of snacks.

Hands-on processing demonstrations will include nixtamalization and preparation of corn tortilla chips, corn quality evaluation procedures and evaluation of snack food ingredients (including corn meal and dry masa).

SFA members will receive a 10% discount off the Texas A&M registration fee. In addition, SFA will offer member registration rates for SNAXPO 2005 to nonmembers who attend both SNAXPO and the Practical Short Course in Snack Foods Processing. SFA members who would like to register for SNAXPO 2005 or obtain more information on the short course should log on to www.sfa.org or call 703-836-4500 and ask for Christopher Melchert (ext. 211). To sign up for the Practical Short Course in Snack Foods Processing, log on to www.tamu.edu/extrusion.