| Thai Food News |
2008-07-01 |
Food industry gathers for annual IFT expo
Experts have gathered for the Institute of Food Technologist 2008 Annual Meeting and Food Expo in New Orleans to share research and discuss the current status of food science and technology.
The event, which opened on Saturday, will run until Tuesday covering topics ranging from nutrition and product launches to food safety and recent research innovations.
The expo boasts of being the largest annual scientific meeting and technical exposition of its kind to take place. An estimated 20,000 people will attend and nearly 1,000 companies are exhibiting, including Bunge, Symrise and ConAgra.
It aims to bring together professionals in research and development, corporate management, packaging, nutrition, purchasing, academia and government to cover some of the key issues affecting the industry.
These include the importance of the organic foods market as the Organic Trade Association reported that the sale of organic foods totaled $16.7 billion during 2006, an annual growth rate of 21 percent.
The lack of regulation surrounding the term natural was also discussed as each individual company's regulatory group has to come up with its own definition which has caused confusion in the food industry.
And carbohydrates were on the agenda. IFT said carbohydrates are well known as a nutritive ingredients to provide energy such as sugars and starches, but it is not so well known that they provide digestive health benefits such as enhanced immune system, mineral adsorption, and colonic health in general. This was identified as an emerging area.
Today new fiber sources and their nutritional and health benefits will be highlighted, including fenugreek fiber which has been shown to have great health and nutritional efficacy.
And tomorrow a discussion of the epidemiological link between dairy and weight will take place. Research from human clinical trials will be presented that demonstrates a significant association between dairy food consumption within a moderate energy restriction and increase weight and fat loss.
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=86227-bunge-cem-ift-organic-fat
http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/
