Healthy foods are a major force in the mainstream food and beverage industry. Healthy foods grew 7-8% in 2004 and 2005 while the mainstream food industry grew only 1-2%. Sales of functional, natural, organic and lesser-evil foods and beverages accounted for $110 billion in U.S. food product sales in 2005, or 20% of total food sales, according to Nutrition Business Journal (Oct/Nov 2005) and are forecasted to reach 24% of total food sales in 2010.

Due to this growth, the 3rd annual Healthy Foods Conference, October 4-5, 2006, will be held at the Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland to discuss the future of healthy foods and how industry leaders are responding. The Conference brings together leading food and beverage manufacturing companies who are driving innovation in the natural and organic food and beverage industry. The program will feature case studies of companies at the forefront of development of healthy products in response to consumer lifestyle trends. Experts from Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals magazine will also be on hand to discuss the latest market intelligence and the healthy foods market. Executives, brand marketers and product development decision-makers from companies such as Nestlé, H.J. Heinz, Hain-Celestial, Organic Valley, The Disney Company, Pepsi Co., and Kroger will attend and are scheduled to speak at the Conference to network and tackle major nutritional and food industry issues.

The Healthy Foods Conference features leading speakers and pivotal topics in the food and beverage industry:

• Dr. Marion Nestle, Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Author of Food Politics, Safe Food and her current release What to Eat
“Nutrition, Marketing and Corporate Profits”
•  Dominic Dyer, U.K. Food & Drink Federation, “The Future of Foods and Beverages”
•  Chris Justesen, Head Chef at Disneyland Resorts, “Disney Goes Gluten-Free”
•  Ida LaQuatra, PhD., Director of Nutrition, H.J. Heinz Co.,
   “Repositioning for Health - Can the Lycopene Claim Add Luster to Tomato Products?”
•  Patrick Holford, Founder, Institute for Optimum Nutrition,
   “Clarifying Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load”

A complete agenda, registration and sponsorship information can be found online at www.healthyfoodsconference.com.

The Healthy Foods Conference, is co-located with Natural Products Expo East / Organic Products Expo-Biofach America tradeshow and is co-produced by Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, SupplyExpo and Stagnito’s New Products Magazine.

For more information, please contact Rob DeBarros at (303) 998-9399 or rdebarros@newhope.com.

Produced by New Hope Natural Media, a division of Penton Media