Camire quoted in Sun Journal article on pumpkin-flavor trend

Mary Ellen Camire, a University of Maine professor of food science and human nutrition and past president of the Institute of Food Technologists, was quoted in a Sun Journal article about the popularity of pumpkin flavor. According to Nielsen, in 2014 Americans spent $361 million on pumpkin-flavored food and drink items. One reason, said Camire, is that “People associate those smells with holidays and good times with family and friends.” Pumpkin is high in vitamin A and nutritious, Camire said, adding that unfortunately there’s not a lot of actual pumpkin in the pumpkin trend. Frequently, she said, people are drawn to spices in a pumpkin pie, such as cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, which she said also can be healthy when they’re fresh and consumed in large quantities. “The problem is you have to eat so much of the spice, the food wouldn’t really be palatable,” Camire said. “The other problem is a lot of the benefits of spices are lost as it sits in the air.”