Pamela Low, 79; created flavored coating for Cap’n Crunch cereal

Pamela Low, 79, who was credited with developing the flavored coating for Cap’n Crunch cereal, died Friday at New London Hospital in New Hampshire, her brother told the Associated Press. A cause of death was not specified.

Low was working for the Arthur D. Little consulting firm in the Boston area when she was asked to help find a flavor for the corn-and-oat cereal. She had earned a degree in microbiology at the University of New Hampshire, but drew on a recipe for a dish that her grandmother, Luella Low, used to serve at home in Derry, N.H.

“She used to serve rice with a butter-and-brown sugar sauce that she made. She’d serve it over the rice on Sundays,” said William Low, one of Pamela Low’s younger brothers.

Cap’n Crunch was introduced in 1963, and has been enticing children and adults with a sweet tooth ever since.

Low, a New Hampshire native who never married, worked as a flavorist for Arthur D. Little for more than 30 years, and also tinkered with flavors for snacks such as Almond Joy and Mounds candy bars.