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NEWS RELEASE

04-10-01

Contacts:
Alyssa Armbrecht, Family and Consumer Sciences, (515) 451-1113
Steve Sullivan, News Service, (515) 294-3720

IOWA STATE TO TACKLE WEIGHTY SUBJECT: 2,500-LB. KELLOGG'S RICE KRISPIES TREAT

AMES, Iowa -- A sticky situation may put Iowa State University in the record books.

In observance of the university's "Strengthening Families to Become the Best" celebration and to honor alumna Mildred Day, Iowa State students will attempt to make a 2,500-lb. Rice Krispies Treat. If the effort is successful, they will set a new Guinness Book world's record.

Day, who earned a degree in home economics from Iowa State University in 1928, helped create the prototype for the Rice Krispies Treat while employed at Kellogg. Day died in 1996 at the age of 92. As one of her obituaries read, "Rice Krispies bars are as American as moms and apple pie -- and we have Mildred Day to thank for them."

"Making a world's record Rice Krispies Treat is our way of honoring Mildred's accomplishments and celebrating the family during one of the best family weekends in Iowa -- Veishea," said Alyssa Ambrecht, a food science and chemical engineering major who is overseeing the Rice Krispies project.

The treat will be made on Friday, April 20, during Veishea weekend. It will ride in the Veishea parade on Saturday, accompanied by Kellogg's Snap, Crackle and Pop characters. It can then be seen on central campus north of the campanile. The Rice Krispies Treat will be cut into pieces, which will be sold. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Youth and Shelter Services of Ames.

The ingredients for a 2,500-lb. Rice Krispies Treat are:

818 lbs. of Rice Krispies, which have been donated by the Kellogg Company
1466 lbs. of marshmallows, which have been sponsored by the Ames Hy-Vee store
217 lbs. of butter, which have been donated by Land O' Lakes

It will take about 8 hours to make the batter, which will be poured into a 12' x 6' x 2' form. The form will be waterproof and made of Plexiglass and plastic. The ISU Government of the Student Body provided the funding for the form. The form will be built by a team of volunteers from the College of Engineering, led by Steve Martin, professor of materials science and engineering. Lowe's of Ames sponsored some of the building materials.

The Rice Krispies Treat will be made in the Friley Hall kitchen. Four steam kettles will be used, with volunteers stirring the batches of batter. Bob Parrish, manager of residence food stores, will supervise the batter-making.

The Rice Krispies Treat will be loaded onto a flatbed truck and weighed at the Iowa State Physical Plant on Elwood Drive.

Kevin Anderson, Ames health inspector, has approved the production location and process.

The current world's record for the largest Rice Krispies Treat -- 2,260 lbs. -- is held by Michigan State University.

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