USDA-ARS scientists collaborate with a northern California maker of organic rice products to boost taste-appeal of flavored rice cakes

As hungry, but fat conscious, Americans turn to low-fat and non-fat foods or snacks, the supermarket sales of rice cakes jumped from 1992’s $157M in sales, to a $249M success story in 1995. This jump in sales is partly a result of the introduction of flavored rice cakes. With flavors like caramel, apple-cinnamon, strawberry-cream, jalapeño, butter, garlic and onion, barbecue, and cheddar cheese now people can have a flavorful snack that won’t blow their calorie counts.

Wehah Farm, Inc., Richvale, CA, makers of the Lundberg Family Farms line of rice products, turned to the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Western Regional Research Center, Albany, CA, for technological help to make a tastier rice cake. As part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), ARS scientists are teaming up with collaborators at Wehah Farm, Inc. to devise an innovative process for evenly spreading flavors throughout the cakes. The ARS project team, headed by research chemist William J. Orts will investigate ways of improving the flavor and taste appeal, with an eye on increasing the nutritional value of the rice product.

In one of today’s widely used processes, a flavor is simply coated onto the outside of the rice cake. Flavors such as cheese are added to rice cakes by the coating method, but the taste sometimes doesn’t reach all the puffed rice grains. While not a problem for the slim, or mini-size rice cakes, the flavor is not always uniformly rich when applied to the thicker, standard-size products. Using ARS technology to boost the taste appeal of this already popular snack should only continue to increase market sales.

For more information, please contact: William Orts, Western Regional Research Center (510) 559-5730 FAX 559-5777 e-mail: orts@pw.usda.gov