An eclectic assortment of foods and other products, shunning the artificial or engineered and embracing the natural, were on display at the Anaheim convention center the first week of March.
The four-day Natural Products Expo West took place March 5 to 8 at the Anaheim Convention Center. Trending at this year’s expo were the ‘three Ps’: Paleo, protein and pro-biotic.
The Paleo diet, which eschews anything that was not available to cavemen, has become a popular trend. The Hot Products Pavilion offered up no fewer than five brands of paleo products and the term ‘paleo-friendly’ was seen frequently throughout the expo.
Protein was repeatedly thrust into what would normally be considered carbohydrate territory, such as snacks and cereals. Like ‘paleo’, the word ‘protein’ was often included in many product descriptions.
Probiotics, live bacteria-infused foods, were praised by the expo’s keynote speaker David Perlmutter, a neurologist and author. Several of the Expo’s heavy hitters were pushing their own probiotic line, with one of the year’s premier items being SCD Essential Probiotics. This retails at around $20 and contains 11 microorganisms in its 16.5-oz. bottle.
A smorgasbord of free samples greeted representatives from retailers and distributors as they passed through the convention center’s collection of printed materials, no doubt supplied by brochure printers. Among the selections were grass-feed beef; gluten-free sausage, gluten and lactose-free ice cream, and herbal teas.
