Session 55: Room 388

Tuesday AM

HOT TOPICS: The opportunities and limitations of food science and technology in implementing nutrition recommendations through food based solutions

A common goal for nutrition and food science professionals in industry, academia and government is to establish understandable nutrition recommendations and provide food-based solutions that will help consumers implement such recommendations. The science that drives nutrition recommendations is complex and continuously evolving, and so are the advances in food science and technology that enable product innovation to help consumers implement them. However, there are frequently limitations to what food science and technology can do to deliver such products. For example, it is not possible for food technology to reduce one component of a food (e.g. fat) without replacing it with something else. Consequently, many low-fat products developed in response to public health recommendations were higher in carbohydrates and comparable in calories compared to their traditional counterparts. As a result, such products have been criticized for contributing to the obesity epidemic. The purpose of this symposium is to explore ways to establish a dialogue between the food science community and public health stakeholders to manage the limitations and leverage the capabilities that food science can bring to bear on public health recommendations. The topic of obesity will be used as an example to identify the potential of food science to provide food-based solutions to this dilemma, and to explore how such capabilities can be understood and leveraged among all public health stakeholders.
Moderator(s):G. H. Johnson, Johnson Nutrition Solutions LLC
I. B. Mehrotra, General Mills, Inc.
Time: 9:00 AM
55-1The importance of integrating food technology into the public policy making process
F. R. SHANK
55-2Technical capabilities and limitations of food technology
D. T. GORDON
55-3Communications opportunities and engaging the professional community
M. CHRIST-ERWIN, S. T. Borra
55-4Case studies: Product development
S. LEUSNER
55-5Case studies: Novel ingredients
B. FLICKINGER
55-6Case studies: Novel technologies
B. R. HAMAKER
55-7Panel discussion of industry experts
E. J. HENTGES, E. Myers, C. M. Weaver, D. B. Lund, G. A. Leveille

2005 IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana