Round robin sessions, like this one on reduced sodium, allowed attendees to customize their experience by focusing on topics of particular interest.

Attendees weren’t shy about asking questions and establishing a dialogue with experts at the recent Healthy Baking Seminar West. The event, hosted by Baking Management and Modern Baking, was held last month in Anaheim, Calif., in conjunction with Natural Products Expo West. The seminar brought together industry experts, dieticians, R&D leaders and bakers to interact and discuss new ideas, challenges and trends in healthful baking.

Celiac disease is two to three times more common in women than men, and the disease is present in about 1 percent of the U.S. population, 10 times higher than previous estimates, said Lynn Senecal, RD, CDE, regional clinical manager-west, Animas Corp., during the “Addressing the Gluten-free Craze” panel presentation. Etai Baron, founder and executive vice president, Udi’s Healthy Foods, discussd how bakers can market their gluten-free products to consumers with celiac disease.

Karen Trilevsky, founder and chief executive officer, FullBloom Baking Co., discussed her journey to building a platinum LEED-certified bakery. Some of the benefits include lower operating costs, reduction of water and power usage, waste reduction, healthier work environment and, most importantly, publicity and recognition.

Craig Ponsford, master baker and board chairman of the Bread Bakers Guild of America, demonstrated whole grain formulation trouble-shooting techniques.

Another hot topic the seminar addressed was sugar alternatives for bakers looking to make sugar-free products for the growing number of consumers being diagnosed with diabetes. Almost 26 million people, more than 8 percent of the U.S. population, has diabetes, said Cindy Daversa, MS, RD, CDE, St. Joseph Health Systems. She also discussed some common myths about the disease, such as sufferers can not eat sweets or chocolates. They can, Daversa said, but they have to watch portion size and control carbohydrate amounts. Sugar-free bakery is a widely untapped market, said Donna Nelson, co-owner, Just Delicious Diabetic Delights, one of five sugar-free bakeries in the country

David Feder, RD and author of The Skinny Carbs Diet, spoke about what he predicts to be the next big thing in healthful baking: resistance starch, which offers benefits for consumers beyond fiber and whole grains. For bakers, the easy-to-use resistance starch can replace flour with minimal change in flavor or texture in a range of baking formulations.

The next Healthy Baking Seminar will be held Sept. 21, 2011 in Baltimore, alongside Natural Products Expo East. For more information, visit www.bakingconferences.com.