So I was checking out my “Morning Cup” (Bob Messenger’s virtual news daily) earlier today and ran across something on “frosting shots.” Yes, frosting shots. I knew that cupcakes have been in the spotlight for a while now, but frosting shots?

Remember that whole muffin top thing? I occasionally see that some folks still sell just the tops of muffins. You can probably thank “Seinfeld” for that one. And now people are evidently just eating the tops of cupcakes. Yeah, that’s healthy...

But to Mr. Messenger’s credit, that’s just the point. As soon as the media repeats the "there’s a health-and-wellness boom in this country" mantra a million times, the time is suitably ripe for Gen Y and Gen Next to throw convention on its ear and dive headlong into pure sugar-fueled flavor, glycemic concerns be damned. (Disclaimer: As a wee youth, I had a distaste for cake—yeah, I know, what kid doesn’t like cake, but there you are—and my folks would just give me a bowl of frosting for my birthday ... actually, that might explain a lot about me...)

Of course, I was a bit skeptical about the breadth of the practice of tossing back frosting shots, but a couple of quick searches later, and The Cupcake Takes the Cake and even AP confirmed the buzz.

Sugar buzz, that is.

Although I firmly believe health-and-wellness is a bona fide trend, it's always a good idea to keep an eye out for countertrends. After all, as Newton elucidated, every action has a reaction.

Natural. Food. Those two isolated words seem innocent enough, but join them at the hip and you have the makings for a long-running industry brouhaha that’s threatening to come to blows.

As you might guess, natural is by no means synonymous with organic. But did you know that the reverse is also true? Not all organic foods can be considered natural—even in the absence of much definition for the nebulous term. And, as you might have seen, FDA is now considering high-fructose corn syrup natural. Much ado in this “natural” world of ours... (On a related tack, keep your eyes open for an upcoming feature in the August issue of Food Product Design on natural vs. organic foods.)

Although FDA generally considers natural foods as relatively unprocessed and USDA has some stipulations when it comes to natural meats, much wiggle room exists in this area of product formulation.

However, one guide I routinely see held up as an example is the Whole Foods list of unapproved ingredients. Until the feds get more specific with their definitions, if you can get your product onto the shelves at Whole Foods, you’re probably on the right track. And if all this attention is any indication, that track looks to attract an increasing number of consumers’ food dollars in the coming months and years.

I took a deep breath as I walked onto the IFT expo floor at the Morial Convention center last week. Flashbacks to my first show in 1993 ... I was still a student at U-Mass, had just come out of the “How to Get A Job in Food Science” seminar and I was immediately bombarded with Turkey Jerky, fat-free everything and a flavor company on every corner. I grabbed my IFF bag and started sample shopping ... later on that night, we all went to the Kelco wine and cheese event (those were the days...).

Flash-forward 15 years later, and here I am again, at the IFT New Orleans and am beginning to wonder, Is there anything culinarily new and scientifically exciting anymore, or is the food industry going to continue to recycle old science, old concepts and old flavors through 2010? Would I be subjected to the usual array of fruit-flavored beverages, overseasoned chipotle potato chips and white-yogurt-covered soy bars cut into tiny, bite-size pieces?

Of course I was! IFT would not be the same without the techno-culinary cultish classic Expo floor favorites! But hidden amongst the standard manufactured cliché items, some golden culinary nuggets were able to shine through. Clever combinations put together by food scientists and chefs enabled companies to highlight their special ingredients in modern and cutting-edge ways! Culinary concepts from the Big Easy were seen throughout the floor—and we are all grateful for that, because even a soy-covered yogurt bar tastes better if there are a few pecans and some bourbon mixed in there!

Below are a few companies that deserve a mention because they served food that was not only functional, but also tasted good!

Farbest, an ingredient supplier company from Montvale, NJ, showed a Hurricane Energy Smoothie with a premix blend of amino acids and vitamins, and a Pecan Praline nutrition bar with polydextrose, calcium caesinate and protein isolates.

Wixon deserved a standing ovation for their highly innovative and creative New Orleans–inspired menu, all created by RCA chef member Judson McLester. Some of my favorites included hurricane-drink-inspired sugar cookies (low-sugar but flavor-enhanced), red-bean-seasoned rice chips (with salt replacer) and the delectable reduced-sugar bananas Foster rice-crispy treats with rum flavors, banana flavors and a natural flavor modifier, used for enhancing sweetness.

David Michael & Co., the Philadelphia-based flavor company, featured a Double Bourbon Cola and Crème frozen soft-serve dessert that blended together icy cola water and creamy vanilla soft serve. This was, hands down, one of my favorite items at the entire show! I have a culinary weakness for slush + dairy combinations ever since I had the coffee granita + whip cream parfait at Zuni Café, San Francisco. David Michael also introduced their Peel and Taste flavor strips, a new concept in food marketing, which allows product messages to “cut through the clutter like nothing else!” Stay on the lookout for Peel and Taste strips in future culinary magazine ads.

Kalsec showcased their new Zero Degrees Pepper Flavors. This revolutionary new line of ingredients releases all the distinct flavors of habanero, jalapeño, ancho and chipotle, but without the heat! I had the margarita with habanero pepper flavor, and it was interesting to feel the tingle of habanero, but not feel the burn. A very unique tasting experience!

With the city of New Orleans as a backdrop to this year’s IFT, chefs and scientists were easily able to demonstrate their own ingredients in many tasteful ways. Hurricanes, banana-flavored desserts, bourbon, brown sugar, pecans, jambalaya and my all-time favorite, bread pudding—it was all there at the IFT 2008 trade show. I hope that Anaheim can somehow inspire similar culinary excellence in 2009.