More than twenty of the world’s leading experts in the nutrition and health sector will address the second two-day Healthy Foods European Summit to be held in central London from Tuesday 31st October to Wednesday 1st November, 2006.  The conference is a response to the increasing awareness and concern about food consumption and health-related problems across Europe and provides a platform for debate and influential networking aimed at encouraging a united approach to tackling major nutritional and food industry issues.

Following the success of the first Summit held in Brussels in 2005, the event is expected to draw considerable interest from the international food & beverage communities - government, regulatory affairs, scientific development, corporate management and marketing (see Editor’s note).

Key speakers include:
• Avril Doyle, Fine Gael MEP and serving on the EU Committee for Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
• Guy Valkenborg, Director, European Advisory Services, Belgium
• David Stark, Vice President Consumer Traits, Monsanto, US
• Dr Steen Stender, Copenhagen University & Danish Nutrition Council
• Dr Michael Nelson, King’s College London and Head of Research for the School Food Trust
• Prof. John Stein - Professor of Neuroscience at Oxford University and brother to TV chef Rick Stein
• Dr. Bernard Gesch, Senior Research Scientist, University of Oxford & Director of research organisation Natural Justice
• Peter Wennstrom – President, Health Focus Europe, Sweden
• Steve Snyder VP Marketing & Sales – Cargill
• Karl Crawford - Business Leader Food & Health, Hort Research, New Zealand
• Patrick Holford BSc - founder of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and author
• John Grubb, Managing Director & Partner, Sterling-Rice Group, US
• Stephanie French, Nutrition Strategy Consultant
• Simon Black. Strategy Director. Design Bridge Group 
• Onno Franse, Programme Director Healthy Living, Royal Ahold
• Representatives from Unilever, Nestle, DSM, Compass Group and other key players in the food and beverage communities.

The programme embraces trends, regulation, scientific development, management, marketing and the future vision of the food and beverage industry.    The topics include:

- Insights into the role of the EU Parliament in nutritional and health developments, a look into future legislative programmes and how to put the latest Health Claims regulations into practice in the real world.
- The latest situation in children’s health initiatives especially in schools, and the role that the food service industry has to play
- Cutting edge research on how diet can affect human behaviour, including the link between crime and diet and the effects of diet on children’s behaviour disorders like ADHD.
- Country initiatives – Denmark and trans fats.
- Industry initiatives such as reformulation.
- The latest innovations: including superfruits, biotechnology, Glycemic Load, a look at 2010 and the possible impact of scientific & technological progress
-     Commercial and market information on new and emerging global markets, the changing  consumer, branding, advertising and retailing trends.

The UK Food & Drink Federation will be holding an invitation-only dinner debate on the Monday evening before the conference starts. There will be an evening reception on the 31st October to which all delegates are invited. Lunches and breaks are designed to encourage networking and on the second day lunch will be arranged in topic discussion table format.

The 2006 Healthy Foods European Summit will be held at the Royal Horseguards Hotel, Whitehall Court, London, SW1A2EJ.  Delegate registration and more detailed information of the 2006 programme and the report on 2005 Summit are all available on the web site http://www.healthyfoodssummit.com. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

ENDS

For more information about the 2006 Healthy Foods European Summit please contact
Jackie Pedersen Tel: +44 (0)7980 767710 email: jpedersen@newhope.com

With an EU population exceeding 450 million, and healthy food and drink sales anticipated to be in excess of 110 billion Euros next year – rising to circa 120 billion by 2010 - the EU marketplace offers growing opportunities for healthy food, beverage and associated ingredients organisations. The conference will not only be of interest to executives in the food and beverage and related industries, but also for those who are exploring the possibility of exporting their products into the European marketplace.

Feedback from delegates at the 2005 Brussels conference praised the high quality of speakers and the depth of subject matter covered. The format of themed topics coupled with case studies from innovative companies also proved popular with the delegates.
Maximilian Wolf, Senior Strategic Marketing Manager Europe, McNeil Nutritionals said:
"I appreciated the practical approach of the topics, the breadth of the discussions and debate, and the calibre of the speakers."

The Healthy Foods European Summit is organised by New Hope Natural Media Europe Ltd.in cooperation with Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, New Nutrition Business, the Food & Drink Federation, EAS and Health Focus International.