On November 29, the Society of Flavor Chemists (SFC) will hold its annual Fall meeting at the Holiday Inn in Newark, NJ. The day starts with a board of directors meeting, followed by a committee chairpersons meeting.
At 2:00 PM, the Chemical Sources Association (CSA) will hold a business and technical meeting.
From 3:30–5:00 PM, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) will share with attendees the changes to non-beverage tax drawback regulations and procedures. The changes will involve a certification process by the manufacturer instead of the current approval process. TTB's Non-beverage Products Laboratory staff will provide background on the regulatory changes and cover the various ways to certify that a non-beverage product is unfit for beverage purposes. They will also lead a discussion of organoleptic analysis and provide a hands-on session, led by a facilitator, to help industry members determine which products can be certified as unfit for beverage purposes. Changes to the regulations will significantly affect businesses using alcohol as a component of flavor manufacture.
Following the cocktail hour and dinner, Charles Manley (Takasago International Corp.) will highlight the significant forces that have shaped the industry in the past and try to visualize their effects on the industry's future. Flavor's heritage has been formed in the last 50 years or more by the swift current of advances in the areas of science, business/economics and government laws and regulations. It is, however, still an industry based on the sensory properties of the creations and the close ties with customers and consumers. As the industry's trade organization, The Flavor and Extract Manufacturers' Association, approaches its 100th anniversary in 2008, it is, indeed, appropriate to celebrate the industry's successes, flavor heritage and to pause to think about its future.
