Nutrition is an important part of ready-to-eat cereal. To make cereal healthier, many nutr...

Nutrition is an important part of ready-to-eat cereal. To make cereal healthier, many nutrients are added. Unfortunately, nutrients degrade over time, making it necessary to add more than the declared amount to assure enough for the life of the cereal. Vitamin V1 is declared at a level of 20% of the Recommended Daily Allowance per serving size (serving size = 30 g). The Recommended Daily Allowance is 6500 IU (1.7 X 106 IU= 1 g). It has been found that the degradation of this nutrient is first order in the amount of nutrients. Accelerated storage tests have been conducted on this cereal, with the following results:

(a) Given this information and the fact that the cereal needs to have a vitamin level above the declared value of 6500 IU for I year at 25 °C, what IU should be present in the cereal at the time it is manufactured? Your answer may also be reported in percent overuse:

(b) At what percent of declared value of 6500 IU must you apply the vitamin? If 10,000,000 lbm/yr of the cereal is made and the nutrient cost is $100 per pound, how much will this overuse cost?

(c) If this were your factory, what percent overuse would you actually apply and why?

(d) How would your answers change if you stored the material in a Bangkok warehouse for 6 months, where the daily temperature is 40 °C, before moving it to the supermarket? (Table of results of accelerated storage tests on cereal and problem of vitamin level of cereal after storage courtesy of General Mills, Minneapolis, MN.)