The Snack Route to Wellness

Despite the fact that the rate of overweight and obesity in the United States remains high, surveys indicate that Americans are snacking more than ever. According to unpublished data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), Americans consume more of their daily calories as snacks rather than as meals. And instead of fruits, vegetables, and other naturally low-calorie fare (NHANES data indicate that the percentage of individuals consuming the recommended amount of vegetables has decreased from 28% in 1977–1978 to 19% in 2010–2011), most of these snacks are grain-based and high in sugar and sodium. There is thus an incentive for food manufacturers to improve the healthfulness of the snacks they offer. IFT’s 2014 Wellness Conference, scheduled for March 20–21, 2014, at the Westin Chicago River North in Chicago, Ill., will focus on the science, development, and marketing of healthier snack foods. Besides its new location in downtown Chicago, the 2014 Wellness Conference will feature noteworthy speakers in food, medicine, and media.

General Sessions
The conference will commence on Thursday, March 20, with the general session “How Junk Food Can End Obesity.” Although the session is provocatively titled, its objective is not to imply that all snack foods are junk; rather, speaker David H. Freedman of The Atlantic will take aim at modern food critics who denounce all processed foods as unhealthy. He will discuss the food industry’s advances in using food science and technology to reduce sodium, sugar, and calories in many food staples within household pantries and the industry’s commitment to do more. Freedman is optimistic about the food industry’s efforts to make foods healthier, and during the session he will elaborate on his enthusiasm.

Trevor Butterworth of STATS.org will speak during the second general session on Thursday, discussing how the media depicts science, particularly as it relates to food, nutrition, and health. And as in previous years of the Wellness conference, the third general session will contain a consumer panel discussion moderated by LuAnn Williams of Innova Market Insights and Barbara Katz of HealthFocus International. This year’s consumer panel will focus on the snack food purchases of individuals from various demographic backgrounds.

Michael Roizen of the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Institute will speak on Friday, March 21, during the closing general session. A past chair of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory committee and co-author of the best-selling RealAge book series, Roizen often discusses how various foods can help maintain wellness by preventing and reversing disease. Integrated between the general sessions on Thursday and Friday, several interesting sessions on protein enhancement, sodium reduction, and sugar reduction will take place.

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Protein Enhancement
During the session “Protein Generation: Emerging Health Linkages, Attitudes, Must-Haves, and Issues,” A. Elizabeth Sloan and Catherine Adams Hutt of Sloan Trends, Inc., will discuss the fact that because more than half of U.S. consumers want to eat more dietary protein, there is great potential for the development of high-protein snacks. Their presentation will identify emerging product development and marketing opportunities for snacks that address weight control, satiety, sarcopenia and muscle-retention, joint health, and energy. Sloan and Hutt will also delve into issues such as whether soy can retain its heart-healthy status, how consumers’ desire for more protein may be driving the low-carb movement, and the positive and negative ramifications of protein fortification.

Robert Boutin of Knechtel Inc. will continue the conversation on the merits of protein fortification in the session “Protein Enhancement: Product Development Strategies and Applications.” Although it may be clear that fortifying foods with proteins could add numerous health benefits, the process frequently results in products with unpleasant tastes, poor texture, and short shelf life. Boutin will present protein-fortification strategies that add dietary value as well as good taste to snacks and other foods. Protein consumption is linked to longevity, weight loss, cancer prevention, and reduced hypertension; Boutin will discuss these and other positive effects of consuming protein for a healthy life.

David Lundahl of InsightsNow Inc. is the speaker for the session “Translating Healthy Food Benefits into a Winning Product Combination.” He will discuss the biggest challenge facing sensory and product development: translating promised benefits into consumer experience. Lundahl will demonstrate how to go beyond consumers’ fondness of foods by developing products that resonate with consumers via sensory cues. The information presented in this session should define how to create products that fulfill consumers’ needs. Other sessions on protein enhancement will delve further into the taste and efficacy of various proteins and the nutrition science supporting certain protein-based foods and beverages.

Sodium Reduction
Erin Burnside of FONA International will debate the lack of effective sodium reduction strategies during a session on processing low-sodium products. In particular, Burnside will discuss the use of phantom aromas as a viable strategy for successfully reducing sodium intake by altering consumers’ salt perception. The review of salt perception will continue in the session “Achieving Sodium Targets While Minimizing Impact on Sensory.” Janice Johnson of Cargill Inc. will discuss the technical challenges of reducing sodium content while maintaining the functional roles of salt in foods. She will examine the developmental and sensory barriers that manufacturers encounter by removing salt from product formulations.

Stella Uzogara of the Massachusetts Department of Health will explore the health risk of excessive sodium consumption in the session “Overt and Latent Sodium in Foods and Their Impact on Nutrition, Health, and Wellness.” Uzogara will focus primarily on the sodium content of snack foods that are both overt and latent as well as the impact high-sodium snacks have on health and wellness. In contrast, the session “Acceptability of Low-Sodium Foods: What We Know and Where We’re Headed” will debate whether the Institute of Medicine’s advice to gradually reduce the salt content of foods to meet 2010 Dietary Guidelines was based on sound science. The speaker, Nuala Bobowski of Monell Chemical Senses Center, will present research that contradicts the notion that consumers are more receptive to sodium reduction through a uniform gradual approach.

Other sessions on sodium reduction will cover the effect of low-sodium mandates on the manufacturing of cheese; consumer approaches to reducing sodium; regulatory considerations for marketing low sodium content on food labels; and the use of herbs, spices, and masking agents to replace sodium in foods.

Sugar Reduction
Former IFT president Roger Clemens of the E.T. Horn Company will discuss the questionable link between high sugar consumption and the global pervasiveness of obesity during the session “How Sweet Is the Evidence in Policy.” The scientific evidence implicating dietary sugar as a cause of obesity and other chronic diseases is inconsistent, and Clemens will examine other contributing factors such as poor sanitation, lack of clean water, malnutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies. Although Clemens’s viewpoint may have merit, during the session “Global Snacking and Sugar-Reduction Trends: a Perspective from the Health Professional,” Julie Meyer of Eat Well Global Inc. will present the opinions and recommendations of nutrition professionals around the world who may disagree. Sugar-reduction strategies vary from country to country, and some nations have distinctive approaches to lowering sugar consumption. Meyer will detail what dietitians and nutritionists around the world recommend to their clients to fulfill snack needs while maintaining a low to modest sugar intake.

In the session “Sugar Reduction: Labeling and Regulatory Considerations,” Anthony Pavel of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius will examine the marketing of food for specialized nutrition and wellness. In particular, Pavel will discuss how labeling foods to highlight functional properties and health benefits can encumber companies with increased regulatory scrutiny and costly litigation. He will also present examples of successful label claims and the regulatory and scientific framework for making such claims. Other Wellness sessions on sugar reduction will highlight avoiding regulatory labeling issues by engaging consumers’ senses, consumer snack trends, and strategies to mask the bitter notes of natural high-intensity sweeteners.

If the trend of eating more snacks and fewer meals becomes more entrenched, offering healthy snacks that satiate and satisfy will rise in importance. Developing and marketing healthier snacks can help ensure that nutritious, healthy food has a place in consumers’ diets. IFT’s Wellness Conference offers scientific, technical, and legal perspectives on the development and dynamics of snack-making as well as strategies for capitalizing on the growth of the snacking phenomenon.

Registration fee after February 28, 2014: $795 (members); $895 (non-members)

To register online, visit www.ift.org. Full conference registration includes session materials, breakfast, lunch, refreshment breaks, and a reception.

Toni Tarver is Senior Writer/Editor for Food Technology magazine ([email protected]).