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NEWS RELEASE

01-24-03

Contacts:
Carole Custer, University Marketing, (515) 294-3134
Annette Hacker, News Service, (515) 294-3720

SUCCESS IS SWEET: IOWA STATE'S RICE KRISPIES TREAT SETS NEW WORLD RECORD

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University is regarded for innovation in science and technology...but for cereal, marshmallows and butter?

Officials at Guinness World Records say it's so.

Iowa State has set a new world record for making the world's largest Kellogg's Rice Krispies Treat. The 2,480-pound Treat, made by students, faculty, staff and volunteers during Iowa State's April 2001 Veishea celebration, broke the previous record of 2,260 pounds set by Michigan State University.

Iowa State was notified of the Guinness award in late 2002.

Alyssa Armbrecht, the food science and chemical engineering major who oversaw the 2001 Rice Krispies project, returned to campus today (Jan. 24) to present the official Guinness World Record certificate to Iowa State University President Gregory Geoffroy.

"Creating the world's largest Rice Krispies Treat took a lot of cooperation from students, faculty and staff. For Iowa State to become a world-record holder is a great reward," Armbrecht said. "How many students get the opportunity to manage up to 100 people in a process that involves sponsorship, engineering, food science and project coordination? Those skills are completely transferable to my job."

The world's largest Rice Krispies Treat, made in Iowa State's Friley Hall kitchen, was made from 818 pounds of Rice Krispies, 1,466 pounds of marshmallows and 217 pounds of butter. It took eight hours to make the batter, which was poured into a waterproof Plexiglass form measuring 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 2 feet deep. The gigantic snack was then loaded onto a flatbed truck, weighed, and showcased in the Veishea parade. The Rice Krispies Treat was eventually cut into pieces and sold. A few of those pieces have been saved for posterity.

Iowa State's Rice Krispies Treat was made in observance of the 2001 all-university theme, "Strengthening Families to Become the Best," co-sponsored by the College of Family and Consumer Sciences. It also honors alumna Mildred Day, a 1928 Iowa State home economics graduate who helped create the prototype for the Rice Krispies Treat while employed at Kellogg's.

Project manager Armbrecht received bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering and food science from Iowa State University in May 2002. She currently works in baking product research and development at General Mills in Minneapolis.

"Congratulations to Alyssa, and all of the students, faculty and staff who helped make Iowa State a world-record holder. It's really quite a treat," said Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy.

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NOTE: Rice Krispies, Rice Krispies Treat, and Snap, Crackle and Pop are registered trademarks of the Kellogg Company.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A downloadable photo of the certificate may be found at http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/photos.html. For more information, contact Linda Charles at (515) 294-3129.