SCS Announces PMA Fresh Summit Flavor Experience Winners

Expert panelists choose Dulcinea PureHeart® Watermelons and Red Diamond Farms Grape Tomatoes

Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) announced the winners of its exclusive Expert Panel tastings held October 15th at PMA Fresh Summit in Atlanta. Among the three varieties tested by the experts, Dulcinea Farms’ PureHeart ® mini seedless watermelon came out on top. Among the three varieties of grape tomatoes tasted, Red Diamond Farms’ (a division of Tomato Thyme Corporation) grape tomatoes were deemed the tastiest.

A leader in third-party food safety and quality auditing, testing and certification services for retailers, growers, and seed companies, SCS’ experts taste tested both food varieties as part of a series of PMA conference educational sessions on flavor and sensory testing. Panels illuminated tactics growers, retailers, and seed companies can use to determine the flavor attributes of their produce and develop programs that enhance flavor throughout the growing and delivery system.

Representatives from leading growers, packers, retailers and seed companies participated in hands-on flavor panels, held on Saturday and Sunday, October 15th and 16th. SCS Flavor and Sensory guru Wil Sumner, Director of Testing Services, provided a program tracing the history of flavor and sensory evaluation of produce, specifics of flavor genetics for certain varieties, and details on SCS's unique multi-level 15-point scale of sensory input which generates a scientific comparison and profile of flavor and sensory rating, the first steps toward achieving Flavor Rich™ Certification.

The winners were selected by an Expert Panel of food industry veterans representing retailer, grower, and seed company perspectives. SCS’ four expert judges were Greg Corrigan, Vice President of Produce and Floral for Raley’s Supermarkets, Jennifer Armen-Bolen, formerly of Syngenta Seeds and Nunhems and now a leading consultant, Martin Mazzanti, Chairman of The Produce Exchange, and Sean Frisby, VP Marketing & Category Management for Eurofresh Farms.

To find out more about Dulcinea PureHeart® Minis, go to: http://www.dulcinea.com/products/Pureheart-Watermelons.html. For more details on Red Diamond tomatoes, go to: http://www.diamondtomatoes.com.

To find out more about the broad range of SCS’s auditing, certification, testing and training services for leading food industry companies, visit: http://www.scscertified.com/fff/flavor_rich.php 
Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has been providing global leadership in third-party food quality, sustainability and environmental certification, auditing, testing and standards development for more than 27 years. SCS programs span a wide range of industries including green building, product manufacturing, food and agriculture, forestry, retailing and more.