PUBLICATIONS & PATENTS
Publications
Present and past Merlin employees have been Contributing Editors of trade magazines such as Prepared Foods Magazine and Cereal Foods World. These articles provide valuable information about trends, technical approaches, and current issues in our industry.
Our publications provide non-confidential evidence of our skills and ability to deliver results for your project needs. Merlin employees are recognized experts in the fields of Formulation, Processing, Innovation, Quality Assurance, Consumer Behavior & Trends, Experimental Design, and more.
Our staff members have been invited to chair symposia on New Product Development, to speak at major conferences, and to teach courses at international conferences, in client facilities, at Merlin, and around the world.
Staff members also hold a number of patents which provide detailed examples of our innovative thinking and thorough technical approach without disclosing confidential information.
Formulation
- The Sodium Reduction Challenge
- Fats and Oils: Structure and Function Update
- Reduced-sodium Strategy
- Retro Starches…Back to the Future?
- Three Steps to successful whole Grain Marketing
- Using Gums in "Clean Label" Formulations
- Fixing Formulas With Fiber
- Solving the Trans Fat Issue
- Formulating Vegetarian Foods
- Delivering the (Baked) Goods
- Sorting Fat from Fiction
- Obstacles in Applications of Soy Protein Products
- Podcast: Roadmap for the journey to Trans-Free Foods
- Podcast: Strategy for Sodium Reduction in Processed Foods download mp3
Processing
Innovation
- A Left-Brained Approach to Creativity, A Very Right-Brained Subject
- "Maintaining Vitality in a Product's Golden Years" presentation slides (pdf)
- Thorough, Effective, Cost Controlled Evaluation of Ideas Early in The Development Process. (Sopheon Webinar archive)
- Why Is It So Hard To Stay Focused On A Customer
- New Product Numbers Game
- The Solution Often Lies in the Definition of the Problem
- Rollout Roulette
Using Contract R&D
Quality Assurance
- Not Your Mentor’s Shelf-Life Methods
- Quality Assurance from a Different Point of View
- Food Tales from the Dark Side
Consumer Behavior & Trends
- Here Come the Millennials!
- Podcast: A Case for a Radical Product Revamp
- Podcast: Creating More Healthful Foods: Part 1: Managing the Physiological Drivers of Liking
- Podcast: Creating More Healthful Foods: Part 2
- Podcast: Creating More Healthful Foods: Part 3
Experimental Design
Links to Publications:
Patents
Protecting Your Innovations
Merlin scientists, during their extensive careers, have obtained the patents listed below. As a true innovator, Merlin Development is very familiar with the patent process. All patents developed in conjunction with our projects are assigned to the client.
- Composition and Method for Flavoring Popcorn Product. U.S. Patent 5,750,166
- Simulated Egg Patty. U.S. Patent 5,620,735
- Fat Free Breadstuff and Process Therefore. Canadian Patent 2,174,824
- Egg Patty. U.S. Design Patent 376,251
- Tortillas Having Increased Flexibility and Process Therefore. Canadian Patent 2,174,816
- Microweavable Batter-Coated Dough-Enrobed Food Stuff. U.S. Patent 5,194,271
- Enzymatic Treatment of Produce Cell Wall Fragments. U.S. Patent 5,120,552
- Starch Based Products for Microwave Cooking or Heating. U.S. Patent 5,035,904
- Controlling the Texture of Microwave Brownies. U.S. Patent 4,940,595
- Taco Shell and Method of Manufacture. U.S. Patent 4,950,490
- Food Shell and Method of Manufacture. U.S. Patent 4,781,932
- Tortilla and Method of Manufacture. U.S. Patent 4,135,811
- Refrigerated Dough and Method of Manufacture. U.S. Patent 4,381,315
- Stable Aerated Frozen Dessert with Multivalent Cation Electrolyte. U.S. Patent 4,542,035
- Method of Making Frozen Compositions. U.S. Patent 6,017,574
- Method of Making Ice Cream. U.S. Patent 5,620,732
- Other patents are pending