Dear Members,

I hope this letter finds you well, especially in light of the recent tragedies of September 11th.

As usual, it is a busy and exciting time in the flavor industry. With continued consumer awareness, there are more food products serving different market segments. While flavoring these products, we must be aware of the regulatory issues that may affect them. Flavorists are always seeking new ingredients or methods of making flavors to give our companies the competitive edge. Again, we must know of regulatory aspects of these flavor processing methods and the use of these raw materials.

New legislation can be very controlling and challenging to the Flavorist. Members, who attended Mary Raukko’s presentation on “Organic Food Labeling” at the September meeting, can attest to the flavor challenges that food regulations present for the Flavorist. The way that a consumer product company markets and labels their product determines the restrictions put on a Flavorist creating a flavor for that product.

At the December meeting, we will be having three industry experts speaking on different aspects of regulatory issues. Dr. David Stark, Vice President for Industry Affairs, Monsanto, will cover all aspects of Genetically Modified Organisms. GMO issues are a topic of concern in our industry both here and especially in Europe. Dr. David Moats, President of Alfrebro and Vice President/General Manager of Extracts and Aroma Chemicals for Degussa, will discuss the differences of Natural and Artificial flavor ingredient labeling in the U.S. verses Europe. Our dinner speaker, Mr. Ron Triani, Senior Director Scientific Relations Regulatory Affairs in Label Compliance, Kraft Foods, will explain regulatory issues from a finished products company’s point of view. Ron will give us insight to the bigger picture of food regulatory and its flavor perspective.

I look forward to these enlightening presentations and hope that many of you will join me in attending.

Regards,

Sincerely,

Bob Vogt
SFC President