Local UW Madison graduate wins College Bowl, follows dream of food science career

A University of Wisconsin Madison graduate from Ashland used her knowledge of food science to win a national competition while on summer vacation.

Bea Sutton and three of her teammates won the Institute of Food Technologists Student Association College Bowl competition in August as part of the UW Madison team.

Their victory is the culmination of an undefeated season that saw them beat California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in the finals. More than 65 schools competed in the College Bowl this year.

The recent graduate focused on food science engineering in college and started competing her sophomore year. She considered the competition a fun way to study and get to know fellow students.

“Most of the stuff was what I was learning in class,” Sutton said.

The UW Madison team won the College Bowl in 2019 and was runner up in 2023, according to a news release.

Since 1985, the competition has tested the knowledge of student teams from across the United States. This year’s participants answered trivia questions covering food science and technology, the history of foods and food processing, food law, and general IFT/food-related trivia, the release said.

The thrill of getting an answer right never gets old, Sutton said. After competing for three years, Sutton joked that she has started taking notes in question format, like she is answering another trivia question.

“Everybody who sits next to me has heard me go ‘That would be a good College Bowl question,’” Sutton said.

Sutton chose to focus on food science engineering because it combines her passions for food and mathematics.

“I’m still doing chemistry and statistics, but everything is in terms of food,” Sutton said. “I always tell people food science is like engineering, but you get to eat the final product.”

Since graduating, Sutton has started a career in the wine industry in California’s Wine Country.

“I’m watching it grow from plant to product,” Sutton said. “I want to make products the best they can be.”