A Focus on Consumer Health and Wellness

In January the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture unveiled the new 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which set high standards for consumers, the food industry, and researchers. While there were a variety of new recommendations, it is clear that food science and technology will play a critical role within multiple scientific disciplines to ensure that we continue to have healthy food choices that appeal to Americans. But there will also be a need to focus on changing consumer behavior, not only on making smart food choices involving nutrient-dense foods and reduced caloric intake, but also on changing behavior on physical activity.

The new guidelines aim to significantly shift food intake patterns and place a much greater emphasis on vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, and nuts. The recommendations will stress moderate consumption of meat and poultry while recommending a significant reduction in foods with added sodium, sugars, and solid fats. The reason for the more plant-based diet is that other non-plant-derived dietary components contribute excess calories with little or no nutrients, which leads to excess weight and weight-related illnesses.

Even before the USDA announced significant changes to the Dietary Guidelines, it had become apparent that today’s food consumers are concerned with more than simply convenience and expiration dates; they are also concerned about their well-being. As a consequence, annual U.S. sales of functional food and beverages now range from $20 billion to $30 billion. Clearly, foods that provide functional health benefits beyond basic nutrition have generated considerable interest.

There are two challenging aspects of creating functional food products that adhere to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines: One is ensuring that such foods are plant-based, and that is not always easy from a reformulation standpoint. The second is making such offerings palatable. Creating flavorful, plant-based functional foods that are tasty can be difficult, especially when consumers wrongly perceive healthy foods to be bland or otherwise unappetizing. Speakers at the IFT Wellness 11 conference, on March 23–24, 2011, will present practical approaches to address these product development challenges. The conference will highlight opportunities food science and technology professionals have to address health and wellness issues with innovative functional products. Conference attendees can expect to gain information about plant-based ingredients geared toward helping consumers manage their weight, learn specialized information about healthful foods, hear about recent trends in consumer preferences, and have professional networking opportunities.

Over two days, conference participants will receive practical information that is applicable to any portfolio of health and wellness product initiatives. On Wednesday, March 23, the conference will begin with a keynote session on public affairs and food policies. Two general sessions follow: one discussing how European countries approach weight management and the other revealing insights into how consumers perceive processed foods. On Thursday, March 24, a third general session will reveal opportunities for product development, using the new dietary guidelines as a blueprint. Both days will include a series of breakout sessions categorized according to six industry application areas associated with health and wellness, including: clinical research/applied science, consumer research trends, foodservice, innovation/new technologies, labeling and regulations, and product development.

Not only will IFT’s conference on health and wellness take place in March, but March is also National Nutrition Month®. Sponsored by the American Dietetic Association (ADA), National Nutrition Month® is designated as the time to focus on making wise food choices and develop and maintain healthy eating patterns and an active lifestyle. The ADA points out that fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and reduced-fat dairy products constitute a healthy eating plan—similar to the Dietary Guidelines—but the association also calls attention to the importance of physical activity and eating meals together as a family. Both the Dietary Guidelines and the ADA emphasize a strategy to which the food industry must eventually adhere: fewer additives, fewer preservatives, and more fresh or natural food choices.

Food has emerged as the logical choice for health and weight maintenance. As food science and technology professionals, we can position ourselves to play key roles in developing the healthy and functional food products that are being recommended. But food is only one part of the equation—we need to foster an active lifestyle as well, so consumers focus on regular exercise. Let’s ensure that every functional meal plan contains a healthy food product created by food science and technology professionals. Read the Dietary Guidelines and attend the IFT Wellness 11 Conference, and then use this strategic information to help consumers everywhere attain their best health.

Robert B. Gravani, IFT President, 2010–2011, Professor of Food Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. ([email protected])