Profile – Iron Zone

Education:

In 2004 I went to Thomas Danby College in Leeds to study Catering, its from here my love of Food grew
Qualifications:

After finishing in Leeds in 2006, I went to University of Wales in Cardiff to study Food Science & Technology, I gained a BSc (Hons) and since then have acheived many other food based qualifications
Work History:

I have worked in only one foodie job, other than the one I am now. After graduating Uni I worked in a Food Research facility called Zero2Five in Cardiff. It is here I did my work on confectionery
Current Job:

I like to refer to myself as a “Food Scientist” but many others choose to call themselves “Food Technologists” – Its all the same really.

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I work on a daily basis to invent all sorts of new types of foods, or how different ingredients can react with each other to make and create new and exciting products.
I often spend a lot of time in my food lab experimenting with different things, before making the size of them much bigger and taking them into the food factory to see if they can be made on a bigger scale
My Typical Day:

My typical day is never ever the same!! You can go into work in a morning, not knowing what lays ahead!
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I spend about 90% of my time in the lab, creating new recipes or formulations of ingredients. I try to understand what ingrediants are needed to make food taste the way you expect. The other 10% of the time I spend in a food factory, doing my experiements on a bigger scale to see if they can work on big scale.
Recently I have been working on making toffee/fudge that the dentist can give you after you’ve had a nasty filling or tooth pulled out that not only rewards you for being good, but also helps your teeth get better quickly. – It was a very Willy Wonka moment when it worked!!
What I'd do with the prize money:

I’d like to put the money towards visiting schools to show young people that Food Science is fun!

James Hargreaves