I’ve witnessed some impressive paradigm shifts in how consumers — and product developers — understand and use food and ingredients. The needless demonization of salt, fat, meat, and sugar has moved away from the focus of concern, with most Americans recognizing the idea of moderation and moving away from the guilt that preoccupied everyfood decision.

By the time you read this, I and my friend and partner in nutrition communications crime, Jim Painter, PhD, will have given our presentation on communicating the science of nutrition at the 2019 Institute of Food Technologists annual meeting and expo.

I think every month should be National Nutrition Month. But to promote better eating habits that incorporate “better” foods and beverages, it is critical to have any publicly promoted nutrition message be based solidly on science.

A big part of this best-use-of-resources movement is prominently expressed in the plant-based revolution. Plant-based meat and dairy analogs have been hitting shelves as fast as ingredient technology can make them happen, with expert mimicry of their animal-derived counterparts the “brass ring.”

Speaking at the IFT Legalized Cannabis & Hemp Edibles session, Linda Gilbert, managing director of consumer insights for BDS Analytics, branded legalized cannabis a “game changer for the food and beverage industry,” noting that legalized cannabis is one of the fastest growing industries.

With each cycle of these shows, we’re privileged to encounter the vanguard of the trends in food, ingredients, and food tech. You could look at those as sort of the breadcrumbs along the path of where we’re heading in “Food World.” But sometimes, everything converges so that you also get a look at the substance of the path itself.

Last year, the focus was on teens. This year, our inestimable experts, Dr. Keith-Thomas Ayoob (clinical professor emeritus of the Department of Pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NYC) and Jill Litwin (founder and CEO of Peas of Mind LLC, award-winning makers of foods for little ones) swing their attention to the other side of the playground and take a look at babies and infants, the 0-2 age group, in "Building Better Babies."

Welcome to 2018. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to this shiny new year. We closed 2017 with a whole-issue peek into our crystal ball, hopefully helping processors get a jump on the food, beverage, and ingredient trends for the next 365 days and beyond.

I coined the term “social ingredient” to encompass all those factors that are not physical ingredients but important components of a product nonetheless. I predicted that such social ingredients would soon be the most important food ingredients in the industry.

The growing backlash against negative ingredient messages seems to have reached a tipping point, with processors proudly touting meat (including half a dozen pork rind products!), full-fat dairy, butter, and other ingredients once perceived of as unhealthy. In fact, some companies even are using “whole milk” and “full-fat” as positive marketing tools.