For those of you old enough to recognize the term, the Institute of Food Technologists’ Annual Meeting and Food Expo should be an E ticket* for product developers when it launches June 5-10 in Anaheim, Calif.
Schedule at a Glance
June 5 | 8 a.m.-5 p.m. | Pre-meeting short courses
June 6 | 8 a.m.-4 p.m. | International Food Nanoscience Conference
| 5:30-6:30 p.m. | Awards celebration
| 7-8:30 p.m
. | Networking reception
June 7 | 8:15 a.m. | Scientific sessions
| 10 a.m. | Keynote address
| Noon-5 p.m. | Food expo
June 8 | 8:30 a.m. | General session
| 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | Food expo
June 9 | 10 a.m.-4 p.m. | Food expo
June 10 | 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Global food safety & quality conference
| 8 a.m.-Noon | Volunteer activity
Those dates are not in conflict with the headline. Pre-show and post-show events add a day of activities to both sides of the focal point. June 5 is a day full of short courses, most with continuing education credits. Topics include “Descriptive analysis in sensory evaluation” and “Microencapsulation in food applications.”
June 10 is devoted to IFT’s Global Food Safety and Quality Conference and an IFT Cares-Feeding America (formerly know as America’s Second Harvest) volunteer activity.
June 6 really is a warmup day, starting with another volunteer activity and including IFT’s International Food Nanoscience Conference. That Saturday also holds more short courses, a career fair, awards banquet and the evening networking reception.
The food expo opens at noon on Sunday, June 7 – but not before early morning scientific sessions and a 10 a.m. keynote address: “What’s next? The current economy and the future of food.” Economists Todd Buchholz and Dr. Jeffrey Rosensweig will discuss current economic and policy issues affecting the food industry and what companies can do to maintain their position and even succeed in this changing economic and political environment.
Speaking of the economy, between that and the far-west location, this show may not deliver record numbers of attendees. It usually draws better than 20,000 visitors when it’s in centrally located Chicago, but last year in New Orleans only 15,000 attended.
The show floor is open noon-5 p.m. Sunday, June 7, then 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday (June 9). At last count, 750 exhibitors will be filling the Anaheim Convention Center to showcase the latest developments in ingredients and other food science-related topics.
Remember The E-Ticket?
* When Disneyland first opened, visitors paid a small admission fee (not the $69 charged today) and bought books of tickets with a mandatory assortment. The simplest rides required only an A ticket, but the best ones required an E ticket. When astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983, she described the Space Shuttle launch as “definitely an E ticket!” – even though Disney did away with tickets in 1982. How old are you?
Returning features of the show floor include a Sustainability Pavilion, IFT/Research Chefs Assn. Culinology demonstrations, Mintel’s global new products showcase and Innova’s “Taste the Trend” display. New this year are self-guided “trend tours,” exhibitor spotlight presentations and a session highlighting winners of the Food Expo Innovation Awards (3 p.m. Sunday).
The scientific program includes titles such as: Vitamin D and health; Mitigating food safety risks in a global market; Packaging is always your first line of defense; and Ensuring chemical safety of Chinese ingredients. New are sessions on transformative research and an intellectual property exchange.
Ticketed events include four field trips: to Golden State Foods (June 8), Sterigenics (June 9) Peryam and Kroll Research Corp. (June 9) and Callaway Vineyard and Winery (June 10).
Plus, with the original Disneyland nearby, Anaheim does offer some interesting diversions.
To register and for more information, see www.am-fe.ift.org.
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