KIDS TEST NEW SCHOOL CAFETERIA FARE FEEDBACK SOUGHT AS FOOD ITEMS GET TASTED BY STUDENTS.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

VALENCIA - It wasn't exactly a gourmet feast, but it did give some parents and food service workers an idea of the variety of treats available for the area's younger gourmands.

The aromas from this week's first-ever vendor fair sponsored by the Santa Clarita Valley School Food Services Agency beckoned visitors to the massive kitchen where various brokers were cooking up samples.

Parents, school administrators, site managers and students were invited to give their feedback on the items.

``I've learned not to buy anything without a thumbs up from the kids,'' said Anne Grandjean, director of food services for the agency. ``I always find a student group to do a taste test before I get a new item.''

Grandjean recently received a letter from four sixth-graders at Plum Canyon Elementary school protesting a letter that went home to parents advising them of the removal of certain high-fat items from the cafeteria's red carts.

``Healthy food is a great idea, but we would like to keep some of our items we are attracted to that are not as healthy but can give a little tingle in your stomach,'' wrote Jacob Thomson, lobbying heavily for the return of his favorite Otis Spunkmeyer Hot Double Cookie.

``I'm hoping they come today,'' Grandjean said of the group.

With an eye on lowering the fat in food items and using commodity foods such as cheese and chicken given to the schools to keep costs down, the vendors offered tastes of things such as teriyaki burgers, taco Hot Pockets, flat fruit, grilled cheese sandwiches, egg rolls, a new and improved macaroni and cheese and fortified sparkling waters.

Janet Holbrook, Gale Knupp and Janelle Young from Valencia Valley school worked their way from booth to booth tasting and comparing notes on textures and flavors.

``Quite a bit of this is new,'' said Holbrook, site manager for Valencia Valley. Young was especially impressed with a bread stick and cheese dip offering ``instead of chips.''

Rick Puccini of Food Sales West has been in the school food business for more than 20 years and uses his own children as taste testers for new products.

``They're 19 and 20 now, but they've helped taste things for awhile,'' he said. ``Schools are an interesting segment of the food industry. It's almost like a hidden customer with a high volume of food served. It's a fun segment, though and the people working in it are some of the nicest people to work with. They really have the kids in mind.''

Lynn Mushaney, regional sales manager for Los Cabos Foods, showed off two different burritos that featured chicken.

``The chicken, cheese and rice Cabo Primo burritos used fajita strip chicken and is aimed at the junior high and high schools,'' she said, pointing out the brightly colored ``Baja Style'' tropical design on the wrapper. ``And for the smaller kids, we have the regular chicken burrito that uses diced chicken. It's all in the packaging. We want to make sure the kids making the transition from elementary school to the upper grades thinking they're not getting the same food they did when they were little.''

Adults in the crowd were warned not to hold the food to their own particular standards and to keep in mind the younger palates that would savor the chicken-fried texture of the baked patties or egg rolls with less cabbage.

``It's all about lower fat,'' said Jim Davidson of Today's Food Sales, as he offered a bite of kettle-cooked beef with noodles mixed in. ``And appealing to the kids' taste.''

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Jeremy Yukawa, 5, samples a cookie in the food services kitchen during a test of foods that may be tried as part of school menus.

(2) Sponge Bob displays foods from Buena Vista Foods at a sampling. The Santa Clarita Food Services Agency invited visitors in to test foods they are thinking of trying in school menus.

(3) Prepackaged hamburgers were part of the fare offered to visitors sampling foods that might be included in the Santa Clarita Food Services Agency's school menus.

David Crane/Staff Photographer