Food Processing - September 2007 - (Page 78)

TOOPS SCOOPS Wellness is no longer about reducing risk factors but about bringing about a better quality of life, we heard at the IFT Show. Health and wellness take center stage By Diane Toops, News & Trends Editor T he general sessions at July’s IFT Annual Meeting & Food Expo rocked the house. One such rocker was a panel of senior executives from Kraft, Nestle, General Mills and Campbell Soup who discussed the industry’s approach to health and wellness. Each exec assessed their company’s progress in creating and marketing more healthful products, efforts at sustainability, maintaining taste in nutritious foods and dealing with regulations that vary from country to country. Major factors driving wellness foods are: an aging population, worldwide obesity and the increase in working women in the job market, according to Chor San Heng Khoo, vice president of global nutrition and health at Campbell Soup Co., Camden, N.J. “Wellness is no longer about reducing risk factors but about bringing about a better quality of life,” she said. “We are staying older longer and consumers want to ‘function better’ as they age. In the next 10 years, we predict revolutionary changes in how foods will be developed.” Mark Belton, executive vice president of worldwide health, brand and new business development at General Mills, Minneapolis, says they’re seeking new ways to use more fiber, whole grains and healthier fats, as well as lower calories and raise the nutrient content in new products. He said companies face a regulatory climate suspicious of marketing to kids, but “reaching children’s hearts and minds is key to promoting healthy behaviors.” Kraft Foods, Northfield, Ill., is working with Nickelodeon television to make kid-friendly ads, according to Lance Friedmann, senior vice president of global health & wellness and sustainability. Kraft’s Sensible Solution platform is growing several times faster than its other products and is embraced by consumers seeking portion control. “Forty percent of 100-calorie packs are given to kids,” he points out. On the down side, “Consumers like better-for-yousymbols on packaging, but they say the symbols are confusing.” Nestle SA, Vevey, Switzerland, spends $1.7 billion a year on R&D, and its mergers and acquisitions strategy is connected and linked with its health and wellness R&D, according to Matthew Roberts, head of acquisitions & business development. “The consumer wants a sense of community and to be empowered for healthy behaviors,” he says, but communicating with the public at-large in innovative ways presents a hurdle. 78 • FOOD PROCESSING SEPTEMBER 2007 Health and wellness were equally apparent at another session. “Hispanics [42.7 million strong] are one of the most interesting demographics for health and wellness going forward,” said Barbara Katz, president of HealthFocus International and a Food Processing contributing editor. “So many of them are actively involved in pursuing wellness through diet and so many are open to functional nutrition and open to paying a premium for it.” Many trends and creative new food and beverage concepts start abroad. LuAnn Williams, senior analyst at CNS Media/Innova Market Insights, Duiven, The Netherlands, listed as international trends with staying power Japanese inspiration, nostalgia, sustainability of the environment and health and pleasure. “Satisfying satiety, combating obesity, super ingredients in foods and exotic flavors are opportunities for the industry,” she said. Joe Pawlak, vice president of Chicago-based Technomic Inc., focused on macrotrends underlying away-from-home food choices. “Convenience, balance, customization, social consciousness and ethnic foods are the chief trends,” he said. “Cuisines on the radar are Mediterranean, Latin American, Pan-Asian, Brazilian/ Argentinean and Thai.” Should the U.S. create a single food agency? “USDA inspects carcasses and FDA does everything else. Putting them together would serve no useful purpose at all,” according to Peter Barton Hutt, former chief counsel of the FDA, partner in Washington law firm Covington & Burling and adjunct food and drug law professor at Harvard Law School. And here’s an eye-opening statistic. “In 1990, the FDA budget was $870 million. With 60 percent inflation since then, FDA’s 2005 budget of $1.45 billion has basically stood still. It’s a massive problem; the agency is crippled” while being charged with increased responsibility for food safety, said the father of the U.S. nutrition labeling system and other key food regulations. “It’s no wonder that trust in FDA fell from 80 percent to a current 30-40 percent.” Hutt challenged attendees in no uncertain terms. “You ought to be ashamed of yourself; it’s time for IFT to stand up and demand FDA be given [an additional] $400 million – what they need to function – by Congress. You in the food industry must do your part to save FDA, which doesn’t have a constituency. Harass members of Congress, write letters and do it now!” E-mail: dtoops@putman.net WWW.FOODPROCESSING.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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