IFT Crystal Ball

Prognostication is at best an iffy science, and at worst a fool’s errand, but predicting the major area of interest at this coming June’s IFT Show in New Orleans is a proverbial slam dunk: Health and nutrition issues and solutions will once again dominate booth conversations, demonstrations and samplings.

Predicting what specific areas of the health and nutrition arena will generate the most attention and excitement is much more difficult, but let’s give it a try. Here is my list, in no particular order: digestive health, controlling cholesterol, fiber in all its forms, antioxidants, Boomer nutrition, heart health, brain foods, omega-3s, whole grains, infant nutrition, energy foods, joint and bone health, superfruits, trans fatty acids and weight control.

There. Now that I have covered almost all the possibilities, it is time for me to make my prediction—not as to what will be the biggest and most-talked-about issue, but rather what I think will be the most interesting from the perspective of science and applications: salt reduction.

From what I have been overhearing in conversations over the past several months, developments in the area of salt reduction are gaining more and more visibility and buzz throughout our industry.

Now that I’ve gone on record, we will just have to see if I’m a prophet, or whether I will be asking you to help clean the egg off my face as I walk the aisles in the Big Easy.