Institute of Food Technologists & Food Technology Summit & Expo Mexico Announce 2017 IFT FoodTech Summit Innovation Award Winners

MEXICO CITY – The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) in partnership with Encumex today named GanedenBC³⁰™ as the winner of the inaugural IFT FoodTech Summit Innovation Award, a distinction developed by IFT and Encumex to celebrate commercial innovation in the science of food. Sensient SupraRed™ and Ingredion VERSAFIBE™ both received honorable mentions for the award. The winners, and all entries considered for the award, represent breakthrough ingredient and color applications that answer the growing consumer demand for food and beverage products with enhanced health benefits and natural ingredients.  

Winners will be announced at the FoodTech Summit & Expo 2017, one of Mexico’s largest food technology events taking place September 27-28, 2017. The annual event brings together more than 12,000 food and beverage industry professionals to showcase their solutions, attend thought-provoking sessions, and network with other professionals. The official announcement took place at the Master's Conference on September 27 at 7pm in the Frida Kahlo Auditorium.

“On behalf of IFT, I’d like to congratulate the winner and honorees of the IFT Food Tech Summit Expo 2017 Innovation Award,” said IFT CEO Christie Tarantino-Dean, FASAE, CAE. “We received an overwhelming number of qualified entries representing some of the most promising solutions to current and future consumer demands. We are honored to recognize Ganeden, Sensient, and Ingredion for their advances in the science of food and their innovative applications that will drive our global food system forward.”

A distinguished panel of six jurors from academia and industry with wide expertise in research and product development, food ingredient applications, food safety and quality assurance, and processing and packaging technology, selected the three product submissions from a pool of 37 qualified entries. Each entry was judged based on degree of innovation, technological advancement, and benefits to both food manufacturers and consumers.

Ganeden (Booth 1916) secured the IFT Food Tech Summit Expo 2017 Innovation Award for its shelf-stable, innovative, and patented probiotic GanedenBC³⁰. GanedenBC³⁰ represents a major advancement in probiotic fortification, as research of the strain has uncovered the opportunity to use the probiotic in a vast variety of applications where probiotics were unable to survive previously. Since GanedenBC³⁰ can be used in almost any food or beverage, consumers can now receive probiotic benefits in products that fit their daily routine and dietary preferences. Consumers also have the benefit of consuming a safe and science-backed strain, which has been shown in 27 published and peer-reviewed studies to have a variety of positive health effects, including supporting a healthy digestive system.

Sensient Food Colors (Booth 120/216) received an honorable mention for its natural SupraRed™ color technology, which enables food and beverage manufacturers to attain vivid, dark reds with natural ingredients, including in baked products. As consumer demand for natural colors from botanical sources has increased, SupraRed™ provides a valuable solution to the food industry through a stable red color that can stand up to heat and can be used in a variety of applications.   

Ingredion Incorporated (Booth 328/222) received an honorable mention for its VERSAFIBE™ 2470 direct extrusion products. VERSAFIBE™ 2470 is the first dietary fiber with a corn base that is resistant to aggressive processes like direct extrusion. VERSAFIBE™ 2470 technology now enables food manufacturers to generate healthier extruded products with a higher contribution of fiber without complications during the extrusion process or in the finished product. VERSAFIBE™ 2470 direct extrusion products provide consumers extruded products like cereal, snacks, or bread that will increase fiber intake without sacrificing the sensory experience of the product.

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About IFT
The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) is a global organization of 17,000 individual members from more than 100 countries committed to advancing the science of food. Since 1939, IFT has brought together the brightest minds in food science, technology and related professions from academia, government, and industry to solve the world’s greatest food challenges. Our organization works to ensure that our members have the resources they need to learn, grow, and advance the science of food as the population and the world evolve. We believe that science is essential to ensuring a global food supply that is sustainable, safe, nutritious, and accessible to all. For more information, please visit ift.org.

About the Food Technology Summit & Expo México
The Food Technology Summit & Expo México is a Spanish-speaking exhibition featuring additives and ingredients for the food and beverage industry. It is organized by an international summit, featuring free of charge conferences, workshops and a huge exhibition floor, where the manufacturers of ingredients and additives showcase their solutions. Since 2007, this annual event has brought together the latest trends in research & development, innovation and new technologies, providing a special atmosphere for networking and businesses.