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In the ballad “The Sweetest Thing,” the pop rock band U2 sang about how love is the sweetest thing, but when it comes to the beverage market, the sweetest thing also is the biggest thing. Across 13 ingredient categories, sweeteners accounted for 85 percent of the 46.4 million tons of ingredients used in beverages in 2011, according to an April 2013 report by Chicago-based Euromonitor International titled “Beverage Ingredients: Trends and Influences.”

The Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) will host its annual meeting and food expo July 13-16 at McCormick Place South in Chicago. The event invites food science and technology professionals to attend and learn about the newest products, trends, tools and techniques in the ingredient, equipment, processing and packaging sectors as well as the companies behind them. More than 1,000 exhibitors are scheduled to present at this year’s expo.

Across the globe, consumers continue to seek more nutritional foods, beverages and supplements in order to improve their digestive health, according to a report by DuPont Nutrition & Health, Reigate, United Kingdom. As a result, digestive health is the largest segment of the functional foods market in Europe, Japan and South America, and it is on its way to becoming the largest functional segment in the United States as well, the report states.

Researchers at D.D. Williamson conducted an informal taste test with students between the ages of 16 and 18 to determine whether the color of a beverage impacts its flavor perception.

There is no shortage of new product launches within the energy drink and shot sector. According to the Netherlands-based Innova Market Insights’ database, 124 energy drink and shot products launched in the United States in 2012. Of those product launches, energy/alertness was the top health positioning.

Although Valentine’s Day has passed, stevia is still “whispering sweet nothings” into consumers’ ears. As a natural, zero-calorie sweetener that’s sweeter than sugar, stevia is capitalizing on consumer demand for natural and healthy beverages.

 Doctors and nutritionists commonly stress the importance of a balanced diet and exercise for a healthy body, but more research is supporting the importance of a healthy brain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, as many as 5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia that involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language and affect a person’s ability to carry out daily activities.  

The classic fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast” teaches people that beauty comes from within. 

Healthy and natural attributes top the list of consumer needs and interests for beverages, according to respondents of Beverage Industry’s annual New Product Development Survey. 

 In the “Schoolhouse Rock!” episode “The Energy Blues,” an animated globe sang “Sometimes I think I’m runnin’ out of energy.”