First, your bench-top developers formulated antioxidant vitamins and lycopene into your new functional product and assumed they would last until reaching the consumer. You tried to help, but they said "encapsulation?" "bioactives?" "We don't get it." And only last week, a "deer in the headlights" look appeared on their faces when you asked for low-glycemic product prototypes. What's an R&D supervisor to do?

Easy, ship them off to Prepared Foods' R&D Conference (September 19-20, Oak Brook, Ill.). They can pick and choose from some 112 application-oriented presentations that address topics such as confections as functional delivery systems, the use of microencapsulated bioactives and the emerging concept of "cosmeceuticals,"  to name just a very few. For more information, visit www.PreparedFoods.com/PF_RD_conference or see page 122 this issue.