This year’s report showcases our year-in-review through words, pictures, member highlights, and video links within the report. The theme for this year’s interactive virtual report, "Connection… Communication… Collaboration," captures the essence of the IFT community, and the work of our membership over the past year. The report emphasizes the important connections we have made, the communications that positioned our work, and the collaborative partnership efforts that have supported our members, our IFT community, and the food science and technology profession. You can access the entire report online or download a pdf version. We hope you will use the highlighted sections above or our convenient table of contents to the left to guide you through this informative report.

Our members truly made a difference in 2009, with over 1,000 participating in one or more of IFT’s new Work Groups including our Global Strategy Advisory Panel, Current and Emerging Science Issues Advisory Panel, Divisions Task Force, and Credentialing Feasibility Advisory Panel. IFT continued to foster important connections during our Annual Meeting and Food Expo, Wellness Conference, and the Strategic Leadership Forum. With over 700 members to date, our New Professionals Community is actively planning local networking and engagement opportunities for new professionals across the country. The IFT Student Association continues to partner with the IFT Foundation on the widely successful Annual Fun Run, bringing together hundreds of food science and technology professionals to support our scholarship program.

IFT’s communication and outreach efforts have highlighted critical scientific updates and the important work of our membership in 2009. Through digital and print publications such as Food Technology Magazine, the Journal of Food Science, the Journal of Food Science Education, and Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, The Weekly or ePerspective, we have informed the food science community about the latest issues impacting the profession. This included the Traceability Study, "Tracing systems: An Exercise Exploring Data Needs and Design," and the Expert Report on "Making Decisions About the Risks of Chemicals in Foods with Limited Scientific Information." We have embraced recognition efforts within our professional community through our Achievement Awards and Fellows program, and continue to recognize excellence in the legislative arena through our Congressional Support for Science Awards and a vision for the future through IFT’s Public Policy and Regulatory Outreach Implementation Task Force. IFT communications reflected the rapidly growing digital trend in 2009 with the first-ever online show daily, IFT Live, during IFT’s Annual Meeting and Food Expo in Anaheim. Not only did our membership take notice of the extraordinary outreach efforts in 2009, but the Media did as well, with over 112 million media impressions to date.

In 2009, IFT continued to actively pursue strategic collaborative efforts that advance the science of food. IFT and the Food Processing Suppliers Association signed a groundbreaking agreement to co-locate the world-renowned Process Expo and IFT’s Annual Meeting and Food Expo. Our global outreach efforts included the unveiling of the inaugural issue of Global Food Industry magazine, a joint publication of IFT and the Chinese Institute of Food Science and Technology. As a Global Citizen and Partner, IFT is truly committed to connecting our food science community and beyond through ongoing collaborations with Codex Alimentarius, the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Food Science and Technology (ALACCTA), the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST), and the IFT/American Society for Nutrition (ASN)/International Food Information Council (IFIC) Food Science and Nutrition Advisory Panel.