Food Processing - September 2007 - (Page 47)

Beds, Belly dancers and baobab A near-record crowd sampled ingredients healthy and exotic. By Diane Toops and Dave Fusaro With 23,296 attendees, this year’s iFt annual Meeting & Food expo was the second largest iFt show in its 67 years, surpassed only by the 1999 show (also held in Chicago) by a mere 1,000 people. there were 986 exhibiting companies, who outdid themselves providing delicious solutions for attendees. Best-selling author Jason Jennings kicked off the meeting this year with an energetic keynote address on the four secrets of leadership. in a nutshell, the world’s best-performing leaders: 1. have a cause that has nothing to do with money 2. have mastered the art of letting go, which makes them better able to deal with change 3. Get everyone in the company to think and act like owners 4. are stewards of workers, customers, capital and resources. health and wellness was the theme of the show, in fact some 40 technical sessions addressed that issue. hot ingredients this year included omega-3 oils, fiber, vitamins, trans fat-free oils, salt substitutes and probiotics. exotic fruits acai, goji and pomegranate were in abundance, along with a new player, lucuma, showcased by Van drunen Farms (www. vandrunenfarms.com), Momence, ill. native to south america, lucuma has a pumpkin-like pulp and color with a maple-like flavor and is rich in beta carotene and niacin. also on the flavor front, if you never heard of buchu, baobab or bissap, those are new flavors to watch in the next few years, according to the innova database taste the trend report. Meanwhile, a scan of yogurt and dairy drinks launched between January 2005 and december 2006 found traditional flavors still dominate new product activity: fruit flavors (5,552) and dairy flavors (1,670). Food safety was a hot topic. to recognize the critical role suppliers play in ensuring food quality and safety, archer daniels Midland Co. (adM) sponsored a visiting grower delegation to the show. Growers from illinois, Minnesota and north dakota listened to a food industry overview and learned more about products developed by adM using their food crops. diane Toops takes a look at the ifT panel discussions “The industry’s approach to health, wellness and foods” and “where do we go from here?” in her Toops scoops column, p78. IFT MeeTIng & Food expo www.foodprocessing.com sepTemBer 2007 food processing • 47 http://www.vandrunenfarms.com http://www.vandrunenfarms.com http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - September 2007

Contents Editor's Plate Power Lunch NewsBites Regulatory Issues Rollout Food Biz Kids Product Spotlight Next-Generation Manufacturing Models Product Development Ingredients Packaging Show Previews New Product Profiles Toops Scoops

Food Processing - September 2007

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