As part fulfillment of the Food Science and Technology (FST) internship project, Renecia Herrera, a second year Diploma in Food Technology student, was placed at Adam’s Bagels in Maraval, Port-of-Spain to complete her final year project. The objectives were as follows:

• To understand the production flow in an established restaurant
• To enhance already existing Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)
• To implement HACCP, SOPs and GMPs where necessary
• To improve her understanding of food recycling
• To operate industrialised baking equipment
• To gain experience in pastry and bread making

Through her project she was also able to learn how to make some of the more popular items from the menu including, vanilla cupcakes with Italian meringue, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate ganache, pineapple coconut cake, vegetable quiche, as well as some specialty products like sum sum bread, namoora, mamool baklava, burma and different varieties of bread including ciabatta, brioche rye, flax, pumpernickel and cobblestone.
This project was important to the Food and Beverage industry as it capitalises on her knowledge of HACCP, SOPs and GMPs, including culinary arts learnt through the FST Diploma programme. Another important outcome was to improve the current practices and standards employed at a reputable food service business to ensure the production of safe foods and the reduction of food waste, by applying simple principles that prevent food contamination and spoilage.

Renecia Herrera:

"The internship was a memorable one and an accomplishment. The warm and welcoming staff created an atmosphere of motivation. I have gained experience that will be beneficial in the near future, as I have dreams and aspirations of becoming a business owner particularly in the food industry. I was as satisfied that I was able to share with other colleagues things that I had learnt via theory to their actual field of work, that they may not have understood before. The experience and knowledge gained from Adam’s are priceless and will be treasured".