Food Matters Live Conference - 18th-20th November

Food Matters Live, held in ExCel London, was a fantastic event to attend. It was great to have the opportunity to listen high profile speakers such as public health specialists, healthcare professionals, academics and representatives from industry, debate wide-ranging topics from ‘Changing eating behaviours’ to ‘Nourishing our next generation’. My musings on this event are currently with an editor of the BDA magazine Dietetics Today for consideration. So I will post the link as soon as it's published.

There were a whole host of solutions proposed to improve the health of our nation, from local level, to broad nationwide initiatives that could potentially have an impact. Hopefully there will be some follow up to show where these suggestions are being implemented, and report any success achieved.

In addition to the conferences, seminars provided opportunities to hear about new research in heart health, weight management, the exciting future of nutrigenomics, and advances in health technology, to name a few. There was also a variety of interactive talks, innovative cooking demonstrations and interesting exhibition stalls to visit. Over the days I attended, there was so much going on; I wish I could have been in three places at once!

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Care of @HopscotchProd in Food Matters Live 2014

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Between key talks I wandered around the exhibition arena filled with retail and food companies, universities, health technologies and a whole lot more. I just cannot resist finding out more about up-and-coming health brands, so was intrigued to see a whole host of new starter companies trying to break into the 'health' market.

No, they were not selling whole foods, and yes, the products on show were essentially convenience foods, but in this day and age it is hard to escape from the reality that people live fast paced lives and want convenience at times when hungry. I opt for whole foods first, but if I am buying a convenience product, I look out for ones with a small, simple ingredient list with items I recognise! I enjoy oatcakes, fruit and nut bars and shop bought houmous when I don't have time to make my own.

In particular, there were four products that caught my eye whilst wandering around the hall. As samples were available from each of these companies, I was able to try them, and found they all passed my taste test! However, looking into their health claims, nutrition value and costs away from the hype of the exhibition, is a different matter. The following reviews are all my own opinions. I received these items for free at the exhibition and have no benefits from sharing my review.

P.s  A rather cool moment for me was having my pic taken with Dr Mosley. I like his energy and passion for investigating health issues. He came across as a decent person with very honest opinions! He was keen to highlight the need for nutrition education for medical students which you would hope will help to improve awareness and patient care.

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