The live one-day event called Weight Management 2010 Virtual Conference and Expo will be taking place tomorrow, Thursday November 4. The conference will cover key topics from high-profile industry personalities from Nestlé, Unilever, The Federal Trade Commission, Packaged Facts, New-York University, Université Catholique de Louvain and University of Sussex.
Organised in association with FoodNavigator-USA.com, the virtual event allows visitors to network, attend conferences, and visit suppliers online – without having to book flights or hotels.
Virtual versions of trade shows and conferences are becoming increasingly popular as marketing budgets come under pressure in the recession and IT companies develop new and improved platforms for online events.
Networking
Cost saving is not the only attraction of the virtual format. Visitors to Weight Management 2010 can easily navigate their way around the virtual floor and can network simply with both visitors and suppliers through forums at stands, and using a chat facility.
In addition to networking, attendees of the show can come to stands in the virtual exhibition hall to pick up product brochures, technical papers and case studies, and tune in to videos. The select group of suppliers showcasing their very latest ingredient and formulation innovations include: DSM, Roquette, Sensus, National Starch, Pharmachem, Bio-Serae, Cognis, Frutarom, Nutrition21, OmniActive, P.L. Thomas and Tate & Lyle.
Conference line-up
The program will start with an overview of the weight management sector, from Don Montouri, publisher of Packaged Facts, with special focus on dietary programs to achieve weight management, from Atkins to GI and Weight Watchers,
Next up is a detailed examination of satiety by Martin Yeomans, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Sussex, looking at how the science of satiety works and how products could support their claims.
We then explore how the gut microflora of obese people is different from their lean counterparts, and how prebiotics and probiotics may modify gut microbial populations and help shrink waist sizes. The presentation will be given by Dr Jason Chou from the Nestle Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland and Professor Patrice Cani from the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium.
The Grocery Manufacturers Association’s Melissa Musiker, Dr Lisa Young from New York University, and Dr Margo Wootan from the Center for Science in Public Interest (CSPI) will then participate in a panel session to discuss the interlinking issues of reformulation, portion control, and nutrition labeling.
Finally, we cover the crucial topic of health claims, with Dr David Mela from Unilever and Devin Domond from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) looking at how to build the science to substantiate a proposed claim, and what an agency like the US Federal Trade Commission looks for when it evaluates whether a claim is substantiated or not.
Weight Management 2010 opens its virtual doors at 9:30am Eastern Daylight Time (New York).
For more information and to register for Weight Management 2010 Virtual Conference and Expo, please click here.