Student Stories: Food Science grad started with Kellogg internship

Student Stories: Food Science grad started with Kellogg internship

Agnes Lim

University Park, Pa. — If breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, then Agnes Lim is a very important person.

The Penn State food science major, who graduated from the College of Agricultural Sciences last spring, landed two internships with the Kellogg Co., the world's leading producer of cereal and other nutritious breakfast foods, in the fall of 2008 and summer of 2009.

A native of Indonesia, she left her family there in 2006 to pursue her love for food and to conquer a foreign tongue.

"I really like learning chemistry, and I also like learning about the flavor and the color changes in food, so I thought it would be interesting inventing and developing new foods," she said. "Also, because English is not my native language and it's a language I've always wanted to speak fluently, I decided to come to a country where it is spoken."

Lim's first internship with Kellogg was in Memphis, Tenn., and the second was in Muncy, Pa. During her internships, she participated in hands-on activities that taught her about both the science and the business aspects of food production.

Lim's duties included developing new food products and food packaging, assisting the production process, monitoring the quality of the food following production and, of course, eating breakfast.

"While in Tennessee, I was a food technologist intern, and I worked on a project that essentially introduced fiber to Fruit Loops, making the cereal more wholesome," she said. "When I was in Pennsylvania, I learned more about production and making the manufacturing process more efficient by creating new, less-costly packages for Nutri-Grain bars."

In both plants, Lim got to do one of her favorite things -- eat.

"In Tennessee, I had to taste cereal everyday as part of my work -- it's called quality check. I would taste all the cereals repeatedly every day, with no milk, and I would have to make a call: does it look good, does it taste good, etc.?" she said. "It was the same in Pennsylvania, but with Nutri-Grain bars and Pop-Tarts."

The internships gave Lim insight into life after graduation.

"They have helped me figure out what I want to do and what I don't want to do," she said, "They taught me about the business, the marketing, the human resources and the labor side of food production."

After graduation, Lim took a position with the Campbell Soup Company in Camden, N.J. She hopes to attend graduate school after working for a year or so. She intends to acquire all the knowledge she can so she can fulfill her main career goal back home.

"I want to have my own food company in Indonesia someday," she said. "I want to produce something with fiber that Indonesians can eat every day. I want to use the knowledge I acquire here and take it home. I love and miss Indonesia, especially the food."

Ironically, if given a choice, Lim would skip breakfast and go straight to dessert.

"My favorite American food would have to be ice cream," she said, "I also like s'mores and pumpkin pie."