International Food Technologist's (IFT) annual Wellness Conference in March offers attendees a unique blend of unbiased perspectives, news about emerging trends, and information on how other organizations within the food industry are penetrating the health and wellness sector.

Alice Bast will speak on "Nutritionally Gluten-Free: The New Frontier," along with Jennifer Williams, application scientist at Penford Food Ingredients.

When gluten-free foods were first introduced, they contained minimal nutrition and had less-than-ideal sensory qualities. Today, consumers expect such products to be on par, in both quality and nutrition, with their gluten-containing counterparts. This expectation has opened the door to a new frontier of ingredients. You will learn how to successfully launch gluten-free foods by using nutritional flours and fibers to create healthy, tasty products. In addition, a review of the gluten-free arena, evolving gluten-free technologies and gluten-free ingredient solutions will enable you to identify potential new gluten-free product candidates.

When: Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Time: 2-3 p.m.

Where: InterContinental Chicago O'Hare, Rosemont, IL

For more information, visit the conference website.