Obesity Driving Hot Topics In Food

Newswise — Obesity directly affects the way of life of hundreds of millions of people worldwide and attention to obesity is also affecting indirectly and increasingly the way consumers, businesses, investors, the public health community and the courts interpret the influential role food plays in everyday life. A special Hot Topic session to be featured during the upcoming Institute of Food Technologists' 2004 Annual Meeting + Food Expo® will focus intently on this issue from the perspective of these influential groups.

Beginning Tuesday afternoon, July 13, representatives of the fast food, beverage, business and marketing, investment, and alternative diet segments will provide insight and commentary on the influence their areas of expertise are having over the overweight epidemic. Professionals and academicians representing Merrill Lynch, PepsiCo, McDonald's corporation, the Atkins diet, and others are scheduled to provide examples of the factors currently impacting the food industry.

On Wednesday, July 14, a second related and specially designed Hot Topic session will address ways in which the food industry can stay competitive in the rapidly evolving marketplace. Participants will focus discussion on the large-scale factors shaping the competitive nature of the food business. Trends and innovations currently easing their way from the development stage and onto the tabletops of consumers will headline the session, with new product research and development and regulatory perspective providing support.

As the name implies, Hot Topic sessions at the IFT Annual Meeting + Food Expo® delve into the issues that determine greatly the current state of the global food industry and food supply.

Now in its 64th year, the IFT Annual Meeting + Food Expo®, to be held July 12-16 in Las Vegas, is the world's single largest annual technical meeting and exhibition of its kind, hosting nearly 20,000 registered attendees and approximately 800 exhibiting companies. Rated among the largest 200 conventions in America*, the scientific conference and exposition delivers comprehensive, cutting-edge research and opinion from food science-, technology-, marketing- and business-leaders. For more, see: http://www.am-fe.ift.org

* According to Tradeshow Week® 200 magazine, 2003.

Founded in 1939, and with world headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, USA, the Institute of Food Technologists is a not-for-profit international scientific society with 28,000 members working in food science, technology and related professions in industry, academia and government. As the society for food science and technology, IFT brings sound science to the public discussion of food issues. For more on IFT, see http://www.ift.org.