Nibbling Our Way Around the IFT Food Expo

I'm collecting samples--of  WOWBUTTER--( which looks like peanut butter but isn't), of popped sorghum (which looks like popcorn, but  isn't), and of a pollipop look-alike that puns the message "We're suckers for colors."  Where am I?  Today is July 18th.  I'm attending the annual meeting (aka convention) of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).  

The IFT annual meeting is always immense fun in addition to being an education. The event sponsors more than 100 scientific sessions because many of the organization's 17,000 members are food scientists or researchers in some scientific area related to food.

However, the most fun of IFT's 3-day meeting comes from walking around an event called the Food Expo.  For how long? As long as your feet hold out. (Mine lasted about 3 hours.) Visitors with endurance learn about surprising things that food companies are cooking up in their attempts to satisfy the endlessly changing demands/needs of consumers.

Most exhibitors (There are more than 1,000 of them!) display brands we never heard of because their products are not sold in supermarkets. They are companies that produce ingredients for retail stores, restaurants, and institutions such as hospitals and schools. But even though we never heard of a company's  brand, we may have eaten the ingredients it produces, such as its colorings or flavorings. However, some familiar names also exhibit at the Expo, for example, Morton Salt or Kikkoman.

"CLEAN" LABELS

Let's lace up our walking shoes and stroll around the Food Expo. As we go, in addition to edibles, we'll pick up some new language--the vocabulary used by many food suppliers. For example, flyers, posters, and packages speak of "clean" labels or "clean" ingredients.  This doesn't mean clean as in the opposite of dirty. The meaning of "clean" is similar to the ambiguous meaning of "natural" as used for food products today: "clean" refers to the opposite of "artificial" or "manmade."  

Why are so many companies bragging about "clean" labels? The food industry is striving to give people what they want--food that does not contain laboratory-produced ingredients.  Food scientist Dr. Joe Regenstein (one of this site's Advisory Board scientists) attended the IFT16 annual meeting, noted the Food Expo's emphasis on clean labels, and remarked, "'Clean label,' like natural, is poorly defined.  To most, it is Michael Pollan's idea: 'Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food.'"  (Note: Pollan is the author of the well-known award-winning book The Omnivore's Dilemma.)

Related "clean" label ideas are 1) Create food products with shorter ingredient lists; and 2) List contents in everyday words rather using chemical names that are meaningless to the general public.

FUNCTIONALITIES

Early in our visit to the Food Expo, Brad Meyers, a food scientist and  senior product manager  at Glanbia Nutritionals, alerts us to suppliers' frequent use of "functionalities"  (a new word for me).   It refers to food ingredients that are not "empty" calories but have some healthful benefit. Healthful benefits may be added or enhanced by the manufacturer's ingredient(s), which may, very commonly, be a powder that gives the final product a fiber, protein, and/or vitamin boost.  The goal is to get this bump from a natural ingredient, generally something plant-based.

Furthermore, Meyers pointed out, "Ingredient or whole food products can have functionality outside of the nutritional/ healthful benefit. For example, different types of proteins can be used in nutritional bars to give a variety of different textures (hard versus soft, chewy versus brittle, etc.) depending on the product goals."

At Glanbia's booth, we are treated to a prototype nutrition bar containing vegan protein, grains, and seeds.  It's attached to a message which reads in part, "Introduction of vegan bars continues to grow with 98 new bars so far in 2016."   

Who wants or needs this extra nutrition?  Athletes, older folks who are not eating well, indeed anyone who wants to be stronger and feel better. As we read about "functionalities" at other booths, it becomes clear that if an edible item contains more than one functionality, so much the better. It's common for companies to promote powders that add both high fiber and high protein.

As we walk around, we see that almost everyone in this huge crowd is doing the same thing--sampling tidbits of solid food or beverages. Some are also asking company representatives, "What's in this?"  Often, representatives hand them recipes that use their ingredient(s). We're also frequently told that recipes for the samples we're snacking on can be found on the manufacturer's website.

INGREDIENTS/FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY NEEDS

We find quite a few products that are for a specific diet, and, if we had the stamina to go down every aisle, no doubt we'd find more.  But here's a sampling of what we learned about and, in some cases, sampled:

Wowbutter:  For companies or chefs needing a peanut butter replacement, WOWBUTTER is a good substitute. The flyer says, "Taste, texture, and aroma just like peanut butter, but with even better nutrition!"  Users claim it's even better than peanut butter for baking.   We give it a taste test and conclude that it does indeed have the look and mouth feel of peanut butter. We won't go so far as to say it could pass for peanut butter, but it is good.  It's an award-winning product made mostly of soy and palm oil.   

Sorghum (Nu Life Market, Simply Sorghum): The Nu Life Market flyer advertises gluten-free, all-purpose flour, pearled grain, and sorghum pizza  crust.  We sample the company's popped sorghum.  It looks like mini popcorn pieces. We try some; it's okay but not as tasty as popcorn.  The flyer suggests using it in  a salad or dessert topping. We also visit Simply Sorghum.  Its postcard-size flyer tells us that sorghum is a whole grain grown in America, and it has many health benefits.  "It's a good source of fiber and protein and it adds a nutty flavor to your recipes." There's also sorghum syrup.   

Vegan hummus (ADM Matsutami LLC): This product--Spicy Vegan Beyond Hummus Spread--is quite tasty.  It's also gluten-free, as almost all hummus is, says Dr. Regenstein.  He also points out that most brands of  hummus are vegan.

Whey proteins (Arla Foods): The flyer invites visitors to the company's protein show to "learn about the different functionalities that whey protein has to offer." There were only 2 shows a day, and our feet didn't get us over to booth 4045 in time for either one of them.  But thanks to the internet, I learned this: "Whey protein is a mixture of globular proteins isolated from whey, the liquid material created as a by-product of cheese production. Whey protein is commonly marketed as a dietary supplement, and various health claims have been attributed to it in the alternative medicine community."

Yeastextract (Kohjin Life Sciences): This is a recommended ingredient for monosodium glutamate (MSG) replacement, salt reduction, lower sugar formulations, and milk fat replacement.

Flaxseed (Pizzey Ingredients):  The product on the first page of the company's flyer is Bevpur flax, which, the flyer tells us, "contains the most ALA Omega-3 of any whole-food source and is backed by decades of research demonstrating its health benefits. It also contains protein, fiber, and other ingredients with possible health benefits."

Flavorings (Gold Coast Ingredients, Inc.)  The products described in the Gold Coast flyer are vegetarian items that add beef, Korean, or Teriyaki flavoring.  Many are organic.

FOOD SAFETY

The Expo's food safety section has several exhibits.  The one that grabs our attention is Bavaria Corporation International. Some new additions to its Protecta line can be put in or on various types of foods in order to inhibit the growth of  pathogens and lengthen shelf life. Examples: Protecta Fresh D and Fresh F are cultured spice extracts that increase "food security and shelf life by inhibiting the growth and proliferation of Listeria monocytogenes and other Gram-positive bacteria without altering the sensory properties of food." Protecta 400 is an  enzymatic system "intended to dramatically lower initial bacteria, yeast and mold counts." 

I must admit that, at first, the claims for Protecta products sounded like magic to me.  However,  food scientist Dr. Catherine Cutter (a member of this site's Advisory Board) did research on Protecta, and, in a  scholarly article published in 1999, she says this, "Plant-derived antimicrobial compounds have been recognized for hundreds of years as a means of inhibiting undesirable bacteria." The abstract of this article concludes:  "Herb extracts may afford some reductions of pathogens on beef surfaces; however, the antimicrobial activity may be diminished in ground beef by adipose [fatty] components." A surprising fact to me: more than 1,300 plants are a possible source of antimicrobial agents! 

HOW DOES THE CONTENT OF THIS ARTICALE RELATE TO YOU?

A visit to the IFT annual meeting can give you new menu ideas to serve your family or guests. Your food choices may become more varied, interesting, and healthful if you add some of the ingredients or edible items exhibited at the Expo.  

 If you want to purchase any of the products discussed in this article, I suggest looking for them in a health food store or visiting the company's website, where you may be able to order the ingredient or food. You may find recipes listed there, too.

Anyone who is active in any aspect of the food profession can join IFT.  To learn more, go to IFT, membership types and other links to IFT information.

Journalists active with any news media can apply for a free pass to attend the annual meeting, both the science sessions and the Food Expo.

Next year's annual meeting will be held in Las Vegas, a place that's almost as much fun as the Food Expo itself.  For both, be sure to bring your walking shoes.

Source(s):

Catherine Nettles Cutter, Ph.D. , Pennsylvania State University, Department of Food Science

Brad Meyers, senior product manager, Glanbia Nutritionals

Joe Regenstein, Ph.D., Cornell University, Dept. of Food Science