Pamela Low (March16, 1928June1, 2007) was an American flavorist, best known for developing and creating the flavor

coating A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, or substrate. The purpose of applying the coating may be decorative, functional, or both. Coatings may be applied as liquids, gases or solids e.g. powder coatings. Paints ...

for the

oatmeal Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been dehusked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains ( groats) that have either been milled (ground), rolled, or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel- ...

breakfast cereal Breakfast cereal is a category of food, including food products, made from food processing, processed cereal, cereal grains, that are eaten as part of breakfast or as a snack food, primarily in Western societies. Although warm, cooked cereals li ...

Cap'n Crunch Cap'n Crunch is a corn and oat breakfast cereal manufactured since 1963 by Quaker Oats Company, a subsidiary of PepsiCo since 2001. Since the original product introduction, marketed simply as ''Cap'n Crunch'', Quaker Oats has introduced numerou ...

Biography

Pamela Low was the daughter of Kneeland West and Pauline (Smith) Low. She was born in

Manchester, New Hampshire Manchester is the List of municipalities in New Hampshire, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. Located on the banks of the Merrimack River, it had a population of 115,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Manches ...

. She graduated from the

Pinkerton Academy Pinkerton Academy is a secondary school in Derry, New Hampshire, United States. It serves roughly 3,269 students, making it by far the largest high school in New Hampshire, more than 1,300 students greater than the next largest high school. Pi ...

in 1946 and studied microbiology at the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire, United States. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant coll ...

where she graduated in 1951. She went on to work as a flavorist for the Arthur D. Little consulting firm in the

Boston metropolitan area Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...

. She was reportedly asked to develop a flavor for the new Cap'n Crunch cereal in the early 1960s. Her inspiration for the flavor coating was rice with a sauce composed of

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of Churning (butter), churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 81% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread (food ...

and

brown sugar Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content or produced by t ...

that her grandmother, Luella Low, used to serve to her family on Sundays as a child in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

. Cap'n Crunch was officially unveiled in 1963 and the original recipe has been unchanged since its launch. She is often referred to as the "Grandmother" of Cap'n Crunch. She also worked on the flavors for

Almond Joy Almond Joy is a candy bar manufactured by The Hershey Company, consisting of sweetened, shredded coconut topped with whole almonds and covered in milk chocolate. The company also produces Mounds bars, a similar confection without nuts, coated in ...

and

Mounds A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand. Mound and Mounds may also refer to: Places * Mound, Louisiana, United States * Mound, Minnesota, United States * Mound, Texas, United States * Mound, West Virginia * Moun ...

candy bars while at Arthur D. Little, where she worked for 34 years. Pamela Low lived in

New London, New Hampshire New London is a New England town, town in Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 4,400 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is the home of Colby–Sawyer College, site ...

since 1973. She was President of the Baptist Women's Fellowship from 1987 to 1988, and of the New London Hospital Auxiliary in 1992. In 1996, she established a scholarship at the University of New Hampshire for students in clinical microbiology. She was also the President of the Women's Golf League of the country club of New Hampshire Pamela Low died at the New London Hospital in

on June 1, 2007 at the age of 79. Her body lies at the Forest Hill Cemetery in

East Derry, New Hampshire East Derry, also known as the Upper Village, is an unincorporated community in the town of Derry in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The village center constitutes the East Derry Historic District, listed on the National Register ...

. Low never married nor did she have children.

References

External links

Boston Globe: Pamela Low; kin's treat inspired creation of Cap'n Crunch flavorPamela Low, created flavor for Cap'n Crunch, dies at 79Concord Monitor: Flavorist made it happen: The Cap'n owes it to New Hampshire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Low, Pamela 1928 births 2007 deaths Women food scientists American food scientists Place of birth missing 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American scientists People from New London, New Hampshire Pinkerton Academy alumni 21st-century American women