Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the U.S. I love the historical hotels, the Greek food, and of course the Cubs. I got the chance to visit the windy city to train customers and attended the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) Milk and Cultured Dairy Products Symposium. I enjoy meeting with customers and teaching them about the chemistry and functionality of hydrocolloids. As part of the symposium I gave a presentation with my long time colleague John Lucey (Associate Professor of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison) on Greek Style/High Protein Yogurt. This is the fastest growing segment in the yogurt category in the U.S. The presentation was very well attended. As part of the symposium, TIC Gums sponsored the IDFA Most Innovative Milk and Cultured Dairy Products competition. This year the winner was an extremely innovative product from aMaMa®, Ltd, carrot-flavored Vege'Yo'® Blended Yogurt. To see more about the competition and the winning product, follow this link. I hope you get a chance to visit Chicago soon and give Greek Style Yogurt a try to see what all the buzz is about.

Gum Guru Guest Blogger: Donna Klockeman, Dairy Food Scientist