Rheological and sensory properties of a thermostable emulsion prepared from Process whey protein (whey protein isolate preheated under desalted conditions at 9% protein concentration and 90°C for 30 min) and edible oil(soybean oil or olive oil) were investigated, comparing with those of commercial cream. The emulsion prepared by 1 part of Process Whey Protein and 0.35 parts olive oil gave equivalent properties to those of the control commercial cream. The emulsion prepared from Process whey protein and edible oil was thermostable. This suggests that the emulsion prepared from Process whey protein can be used as a new type of cream-substitute. A panna-cotta was made using the emulsion prepared with Process Whey Protein and oil instead of milk and commercial cream. Similar properties of panna-cotta to those of the panna-cotta made with milk and cream could be obtained when milk and cream were substituted with the emulsion prepared from Process whey protein and olive oil.

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As a ratio of “nakashoku” (take-out and prepared food) to home-cooked food is increasing, a survey of the distribution and consumption of nakashoku was carried out in order to investigate a guiding principles of food education and the establishment of a good food market.
The subjects of this investigation were 641 consumers and 117 suppliers in the six regions of Japan. The results show a rapid increase in the supply of nakashoku and its demand by consumers. The main reason for the usefulness of nakashoku was convenience, and packed lunches featured strongly on the menu, especially among young people. It was apparent that suppliers offered traditional event foods and catered to regional diets, and indicated the ingredients and nutrient composition. Fundamental food education is necessary, because the use of take-out and prepared foods is increasing. Four proposals are made for the suppliers: (1) take adequate measures for health and safety, (2) provide information on the quality and nutritional value of the food, (3) preserve and encourage the food culture of the local region and (4) protect the environment from packaging and waste. It is also important to frame regulations for indicating the ingredients of nakashoku to make consumer selection easier.

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The quality of real school lunch services was tried to evaluate from the standpoint of cultural education of eating habits.
The results of the investigation of six elementary schools were rated by two angles. The evaluating standards were made on the basis of the three viewpoints of cultural education of eating habits, i. e., respect of human rights, upbringing of the sociality of children and relations to natural environment. At first, the quality of school lunch services were estimated by the condition of the kitchen. A school got best marks in almost all items and gained the highest points in total. The same was the case with the converse, and it got one fourth of the largest score. Secondly, the estimation by the consciousness in classroom showed a similar tendency toward above. Two hundred points differences in total were appeared between the best score and the worst one. The results of two kinds of estimation were correlated fairly well and they should be rather universal.
It was recognized that each school could get more concrete proposal by considering the items used in this research for a goal of improving the conditions of each school lunch service.

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Egg gels were prepared by adding a salt solution of NaCl and/or KCl, MgCl₂ or CaCl₂ at various concentrations to the egg sol and then heating. The taste and properties of each gels were then investigated. The gels with KCl added had the same hardness as those with NaCl and were light yellowish-green in color. Less than a 19.7% KCl molar concentration to NaCl was added to achieve a practically useful egg gel. The gels with MgCl₂ added were hard and dark-colored. They had a bitter after-taste, so the addition of MgCl₂ to NaCl had little useful effect on the properties of the egg gels. The gels with CaCl₂ were soft, released more water, and were dark-colored. The addition of a little CaCl₂ to NaCl had an acceptable effect on the taste of the egg gel, but the breaking stress of the gel decreased with increasing amount of CaCl₂ added, giving a soft gel. Hence, less than a 6.5% CaCl₂ molar concentration to NaCl was added to give a suitable gel.

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When mekabu is heated and stirred, it acquires viscous properties. In the present study, the substance responsible for this viscosity was prepared at different temperatures, and the viscosity was measured using a TV-20 viscometer. To elucidate the primary factors causing the change in viscosity in this substance as a result of preparations at different temperatures, total sugar content, and the distribution of each sugar molecular weight and the amount of alginate were measured, and the following findings were obtained.
1. As the preparation temperature rose (10°C,20°C,40°C to 60°C), the viscosity of the viscous substance increased accordingly. The viscosity of the viscous substance had a strong positive correlation with both the amounts of exudated sugar and alginate.
2. The sugar level, sugar molecular weight distribution, and alginate level in the viscous substance showed great changes when the preparation temperature was increased from 20°C to 40°C. This suggests that sugars with molecular weights of around 100,000 dalton contribute to the high viscosity of viscous substances prepared at high temperatures. Keywords: Mekabu, Viscosity, Preparation temperature, Gel filtration chromatography, Alginate

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Headspace volatile compounds in chapa shutki, a Bangladeshi semi-fermented fish product, were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and were compared with those in izushi, and iwashi no nama boshi. Identified volatile compounds were 21,10, and 11 in chapa shutki, izushi and iwashi no nama boshi, respectively. Among the identified compounds, ethanol, hexanal, propanal, and 1-penten-3-ol were found common in all the investigated fish products. Although the lipid derived components, such as aldehydes, alcohols, and ketones comprised the majority of volatile compounds of these processed fishes, chapa shutki contained more acids such as acetic and butanoic acids than izushi and iwashi no nama boshi.

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