There's no doubt that Menzie Tabora '98 LAS has good taste. She has to — it's part of her job as a junior flavor chemist with Flavors of North America.

Tabora, 28, joined FONA two months after graduating from UIC. In her job, she is sometimes called upon to identify the chemicals that give a food item its taste; once the flavor's formula is known, she can duplicate the flavor and add it to candies, pharmaceuticals, baked goods and many other products.

What makes peach yogurt peach? What makes French vanilla ice cream different from regular vanilla? Where does children's medicine get its bubble-gum flavor? Tabora and her coworkers uncover the answers in laboratories that are regarded as the "nerve center" of FONA. Here, chemists use natural flavors and "build" others from hundreds of little brown bottles.

"I can duplicate a flavor that is in a finished product, or I can create a flavor for a sweet confection such as candy," she explains.

After Tabora and her coworkers isolate the chemistry that creates a flavor, the concoction is added to a "base" provided by a food manufacturer. They then hold informal taste tests in the company's demo lab, followed by taste tests with focus groups. As many as 30 or 40 flavors might be tested for a product. When the flavor is settled upon, the company bakes, boils or cooks the flavorings, which are then shipped to the manufacturers to be added to their products.

FONA even conducts Flavor 101, a technical training seminar on flavors, which is offered free to its customers. The course provides customers with an overview of flavor usage and a basic understanding of flavor chemistry to help them better use flavors in their own products. It also educates industry professionals and demonstrates the capabilities of FONA's research and development center.

Tabora says she chose UIC because it gave her the opportunity to be close to her family, and because of the chance to be in the city of Chicago itself. She cites her organic chemistry courses, which taught her about chemical reactions and structures, with preparing her for a career as a working chemist.

"I like the fact that my job involves something that people can really relate to," says Tabora. "People can see and taste the finished products of my work. Plus, this work just seems more fun than other types of chemistry."