• Question: why do you test substances using soundwaves?

    Asked by clockworkangel1 to Nik on 10 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Nik Watson

      Nik Watson answered on 10 Mar 2013:

      we use equipment similar to the ultrasound machines in hospitals used to scan pregnant women.
      What we use the soundwaves for is to look at the stucture of the food so we can check that they are ok for everyone to eat and dont have any thing in them that shouldnt be there.

Comments

  • Photo: louiewarren

    louiewarren commented on :

    how long have you been studying foods for, and how many qualifications do you need to become a food scienctist?

    • Photo: Grant

      Grant commented on :

      Louie – there are broadly two ways to become a “professional” food scientist:
      i) do a food science degree at university, go on to actually do food science in industry or at a university, and after a few years, when you’ve picked up enough experience and can demonstrate that you’ve made your own contributions to food science, apply to the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) for membership and chartered scientist status;
      ii) do a different science or engineering degree at university, use that to move into the food industry, pick up the food science while you’re there, eventually getting enough experience and making enough of a contribution to food science to become a chartered food scientist through the IFST.
      I hope this helps you plan your career.

    • Photo: Grant

      Grant commented on :

      Sorry, Louie – realised I hadn’t answered the first part of the question. I’ve been studying food for 29 years, and have been a chartered food scientist for 8 years. So it can take a while to get chartered status!

  • Photo: chocolatemint151

    chocolatemint151 commented on :

    This sounds like a great process Nik! How much do these ultra sound machines cost? I don’t understand how they work though! Can you explain to me and help me to understand how you can check if food is safe?

    Loiue I can imagine you need quite a few qualifications to become a food scientist depending on what you are doing.

  • Photo: Nik

    Nik commented on :

    Ultrasound is just normal sound but at a frequency too high for humans to hear.
    Ultrasound device can range from a few pounds (a dog whistle is a ultrasound device) to hundreds of thousands depending on how complex they are and what they do.
    The basics of ultrasound analysis is you have a transmitter which is like a speaker you have on you stero or a headphone and a receiver which is basically a microphone. The transmitter sends sound waves through the food and it is detected by the receiver.
    By looking at the detected sound you can get information on the the food it has travelled through such as does it contaion air bubbles.
    Hope this helps

    Nik

  • Photo: dom1234

    dom1234 commented on :

    I went to hospital when i had a really bad head ache. My stomach really hurt because i hadn’t been eating anything but the people at the hospital thought i had apendicitus, so they used an ultrasound machine to check what my apendix looked like. I felt like i was pregnant! Ha! Of course there was nothing there because i didn’t have apendicitus. What i actually had was a really big brain absess. As soon as they found out i had this they wizzed me off from the norwich hospital to Addenbrooks where i had a big operation (5 hours) on my head where they had to suck all the gunk out of it. I was in hospital for a further 3 weeks (around October 30th, after the half term holidays, to November 25th. All of this was in 2012). I was back home in time for Christmas though which was good.