There is a group of students at Mississippi State that is encouraged to play with their food and even spit it out. They are praised for criticizing the fare. And they are among the best at what they do.

The students are members of the Mississippi State dairy products judging team—students who go toe-to-toe with industry professionals judging milk, ice cream, Cheddar cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and butter in contests across the nation.

MSU teams have been competing in the national contest since the 1920s, and have won 13 national championships. Six of those championships have been in the past 15 years, with seven individual first-place winners. Dr. Charles White, the team's coach and head of the Food Science and Technology Department, says two factors can determine a team's success.

"One reason we've done so well is that we've had really sharp students and we continue to have sharp students," he said. "And the other reason is that they always work hard and it pays off. The thing I think is impressive is that in the last 15 years, we've never been out of the top five."

Consistently, MSU teams have been at the top. Recently, the team placed third out of 21 at the international contest held in San Francisco, Calif. They won the cottage cheese category as a team and placed fourth in four products: ice cream, Cheddar, butter, and yogurt.

The judging competitions are intense. Professional judges score each product first and the student contestants follow. The student whose score comes closest to the judges' scores wins. Individuals, as well as teams, are eligible for prizes.

Each contestant has 35 minutes to taste and evaluate eight samples of each dairy product, with a five-minute break to regroup their taste buds between products. And with 20 to 25 students in each group, White said the schedule is stressful.

"Students are competing for over four hours straight in some cases," he said. "The key is to be able to unwind between samples. I tell them, 'in those five minutes, you have to try and take your mind off of what you just tasted, so when you start on the next group, you are totally focused on that product.'"

To be a part of the dairy products judging team, students must first take a sensory evaluation class offered through the Food Science and Technology Department each spring. The class can turn amateurs into pros: students learn the vocabulary, scoring techniques, and how to judge dairy products on their flavor, body, and texture characteristics.

Those who excel in the class are invited to try out for the judging team, White said. Practice begins each fall when classes resume, and the team participates in two practice competitions before the regional qualifier and international contest.

Dairy products judging experience has proven valuable in the past, giving team members ample practice in quality assurance and control. In addition to other required technical classes, White said the sensory class and team experience puts the students at a decided advantage over college graduates from other universities who don't have comparable training.

"It's very valuable for a student who has graduated into the workplace to not have to ask someone if a product is good or bad—our graduates already know, and that knowledge puts them a step ahead," White said. "We've never had an undergraduate who couldn't get a job. And most of the time, our graduates have choices between several jobs.

"This team and the sensory class, along with their other technical classes, teach our students the skills they will need to succeed in the food technology world."