The Food Detective

January 05, 2003

By Elizabeth Doran
Staff writer


Whether it's gritty pasta or mushy kasha, Dhyaneshwar "DB" Chawan's specialty is solving complex culinary conundrums.

Chawan, a Liverpool resident, runs Srim Enterprises, a small company providing consulting and technical services to the food industry. Chawan's niche is helping food companies solve quality-control problems.

"I love figuring out the problem, and I really like the science of it," said Chawan, who often travels to the manufacturer's plant to analyze the problem and identify a solution.

Before starting Srim in fall 1997, Chawan worked as senior project leader in science and technology for the Gail Borden Research Centre, part of Borden Inc., which at the time was based in Syracuse.

When Borden moved its Syracuse plant to Ohio, Chawan started his own company.

One of Srim's first projects was for a pasta-making plant in Lisbon, Portugal. The manufacturer struggled with the uneven quality of the pasta and couldn't figure what was going wrong. Recommended by the International Executive Service Corps, Chawan flew to Portugal to determine what was going wrong.

Chawan spent a month at the pasta manufacturer analyzing the process and running tests before determining the root of the problem: The plant was buying tainted wheat.

"The wheat they were buying was contaminated by a fungal disease," Chawan said.

Chawan helped plant operators develop methods for testing the quality of the wheat they purchased and trained quality-control personnel in ways to grade semolina.

For his consulting services, Chawan charges $1,000 a day plus expenses. He brings to the job 25 years of expertise in the food-product development field and especially relishes uncovering the culprits behind quality issues.

"I love food processing and chemistry," Chawan said. "Everybody loves to eat good-tasting food, and its my specialty to determine what makes food taste good, and what makes it not taste so good."

Chawan came to the United States from Hyderabad, India, at age 28 and studied food science at the University of Wisconsin. He earned his doctorate degree in food science from Ohio State University in 1973 and then went to work for Borden.

His former boss, Carl Merritt of Remsen, said Chawan is skilled both at developing products and determining what might be compromising food quality.

"He is very strong in organic chemistry," Merritt said, which helps him analyze food and processing techniques,

Chawan has secured eight U.S. patents, including one he worked on at Borden that resulted in the commercial product Pasta Anytime, now owned by Kraft Foods, Chawan said. This product is ready-to-serve pre-cooked pasta that doesn't have to be refrigerated.

Officials at Rich Products in Buffalo found themselves frustrated at the inconsistent quality of their frozen bread dough, which they were selling as part of their restaurant service division.

"Sometimes when they baked it, the bread would turn out fluffy, and other times it wouldn't," Chawan said.

To solve the problem, Chawan spent three months observing the operation, taking samples, duplicating the problem and running tests. Using scanning electron microscopy, he determined the dough's cell structure was unstable when frozen, leading the inconsistent texture.

He then concentrated on stabilizing the cell walls using additives such as guar gum. Chawan was able to determine how much stabilizer to add, when to do it and how best to process it.

"They were then able to correct the problem," Chawan said.

Chawan also was hired by Cornell University's Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station to help solve the problem of mushy cooked kasha.

Cliff Orr, vice president of marketing at Birkett Mills in Penn Yann, said his company looked to Geneva, which enlisted Chawan's help, to help eliminate the mushiness associated with cooking roasted buckwheat, or kasha.

"Because there is no gluten in kasha, the broken kernels get mushy if you don't add an egg or egg white," Orr said. "We wanted to figure out a way that consumers could cook the kasha simply, like you do with rice."

Chawan worked on the project, and determined that applying a spray coating of egg white or soy protein would prevent the mushiness, or the kasha could be coated with water while it was being roasted, which also worked to stop the mushiness.

Chawan just signed a year-long contract with a Swiss enzyme manufacturer to help them develop a line of healthy breakfast cereal and snacks. He is partnering on the project with a food engineer from Auburn.

Chawan also is working to file a patent for a method of processing foods by stabilizing the starches in them as a means of obesity control. He's working on this project with students from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

When he's not consulting, he's working on his own specialty food line with two partners in North Carolina. So far, he's developed a ginger spread made from shredded ginger and zesty soy sprinkles that can be used as an accent to pasta and other foods.

Chawan also loves to cook and prides himself on his lasagna. He makes his own pesto using his homegrown basil and makes a special macaroni and cheese dish with Alfredo sauce.

"My specialty is Italian food," he said. "I love food processing and chemistry. Everybody loves to eat good-tasting food, and its my specialty to determine what makes food taste good, and what makes it not taste so good."- Dhyaneshwar "DB" Chawan owner, Srim Enterprises



© 2003 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.