Critical Snacking Issues in the Spotlight at Wellness 14

Next month, more than 300 food professionals in R&D, product development, nutrition, sales, and marketing from consumer packaged goods companies, ingredient suppliers, and academic institutions will gather in downtown Chicago, Ill., for IFT’s seventh annual Wellness conference, Wellness 14. As both a registered dietitian, food scientist working in industry, and consummate snacker, I am eagerly anticipating this year’s Wellness conference since it gives us all the chance to learn about the latest health trends in an intimate, relaxed environment where we can connect with thought leaders. It also offers a unique opportunity to meet and talk with other business leaders and experts in product development and nutrition from throughout the food profession.

The theme of this year’s event is developing and marketing healthy snack foods with sensory appeal, reflecting current trends in the marketplace. By 2015, world snack food sales are predicted to exceed $334 billion. During this year’s Super Bowl alone, the average fan watching the game consumed 1,200 calories in snacks.

Snacking is a pleasure that some of us follow daily. With prudent choices, snacking can fit right into a balanced and healthful diet. Some of us choose to snack over the course of the entire day. Snacking is a dietary choice and a real pleasure that requires care and focus to manage nutrients of concern and calories.

At Wellness 14 there will be three education tracks that focus on nutrients of concern in many snack foods. These track focuses include sugar reduction, sodium reduction, and protein enhancement. Each year moving forward, we’ll pick a new theme to keep this important meeting fresh and relevant.

Here’s a taste of what we’ll see this year. Many new speakers will join highly ranked speakers from previous Wellness events. In fact, more than half of our speakers are new to the event this year including Michael Roizen, M.D., Chief Wellness Officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute; Nigel Kirtley, Vice President, RD&Q for Kraft Foods; Janice Johnson, Applications/Technical Service Leader for Cargill; George Rakes, Senior Science Fellow for DuPont Nutrition & Health, and Brad Meyers, Sales Director, Midwest Region for Naturex.

David Freedman, contributing editor of The Atlantic, will kick off Wellness 14 with the Opening General Session and a discussion about processed food. Barbara Katz of Health Focus International and Lu Ann Williams of Innova Market Insights will lead the popular consumer panel.

Roizen will be the closing general session speaker. He is past chair of a U.S. FDA advisory committee and a former editor for six medical journals. He has authored four medical books—one, a bestseller—and received 13 U.S. and many foreign patents. He is also the chief medical consultant for The Dr. Oz Show. He and Mehmet Oz write a daily column syndicated in more than 130 newspapers.

Wellness 14 is March 20–21, 2014, taking advantage of a Thursday-Friday schedule, and is conveniently located at the Westin Chicago River North. You’ll pay $200 less for registration than for previous Wellness meetings, and you can maximize your cost savings by attending the pre-Wellness Short Course, March 18–19, 2014, on the requirements and controversies associated with food labeling. For those interested in becoming a Certified Food Scientist, a CFS Preparatory Course also will be offered March 18–19. You can find the full conference schedule and register online at ift.org/Wellness.

The attention this year’s conference pays to the role of snacking in dietary choice comes at a time when new developments in food systems, and new consumer attitudes about food, coupled with a food behavior emphasis, bring food and nutrition professionals to an important dietary focus that can result in good snacking, good-tasting products, and good nutritional choices all in the same space! I look forward to seeing you there.

Janet E. Collins, Ph.D., R.D., CFS, IFT President, 2013–14
DuPont Corporate Regulatory Affairs
[email protected]