Contact: Peggy Armstrong
(202) 220-3508
parmstrong@idfa.org

Sponsored by TIC Gums

(Washington, D.C. – May 2, 2012) Two new cultured dairy products – an apple parfait and a fruit-and-fiber yogurt – were named the most innovative dairy products this year at a recent competition judged by dairy professionals. The Most Innovative Dairy Products Competition, sponsored by TIC Gums, recognized the latest creative dairy products. The awards were presented at the International Dairy Foods Association's Milk and Cultured Dairy Products Symposium, which took place April 24-26, in Kansas City, Mo.

Apple Pie Parfait

Apple Pie Parfait by The YoCrunch Company was named the most innovative cultured dairy product. It features pieces of real apple and a cinnamon-crunch crust topping for an authentic, all-American apple pie taste.

"Yogurt-based desserts are a growing trend going into 2012, but pie without the crust just isn't pie," said Vanessa Teter, manager, product development, for The YoCrunch Company. "Our new Apple Pie Parfait, one of three in our Pie Parfait line, is the first yogurt in cups to offer real homemade pie taste complete with the satisfying crunch of crumbly crust."

Orange Mandarin and Oats Low-fat Yogurt

Orange Mandarin and Oats Low-fat Yogurt by Sensient Flavors LLC was named the most innovative prototype for milk or cultured dairy products. Sensient develops, manufactures and distributes flavors and fragrance systems that form the sensory foundation of thousands of consumer products worldwide.

The 2012 Milk and Cultured Dairy Products Symposium explored cutting-edge innovations in the use of ingredients, processing technology, analytical methods, packaging and product development for milk, dairy beverages and cultured products, such as yogurt, sour creams, buttermilk and cottage cheese.

IDFA would like to thank the symposium sponsors, Cintas Corporation, Dupont/Danisco, Provitas and TIC Gums, as well as the exhibitors, for recognizing the importance of the symposium to the industry. The exhibiting companies were California Custom Fruits and Flavors, Inc.: DSM Food Specialties; the Food and Drug Administration; Schneider Packaging Equipment and Stanpac Inc.

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The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), Washington, D.C., represents the nation's dairy manufacturing and marketing industries and their suppliers, with a membership of 550 companies representing a $110-billion a year industry. IDFA is composed of three constituent organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation (MIF), the National Cheese Institute (NCI) and the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). IDFA's 220 dairy processing members run more than 600 plant operations, and range from large multi-national organizations to single-plant companies. Together they represent more than 85 percent of the milk, cultured products, cheese and frozen desserts produced and marketed in the United States.