Last year, as the low-carb craze swept the food industry, Natural Products Expo West?s Low-Carb Café gave industry professionals the chance to keep on top of the new and popular products that consumers were craving. At Expo West 2005, the emphasis is on choice. The café will be bigger and better, with a broader range of products for vegetarians, vegans and people who follow a macrobiotic diet. The goal of the café is to remain on the cutting edge. ?Each year we try to pinpoint the biggest trends in the industry,? says Expo Sales Coordinator Amy Dageenakis. ?This year, the focus is on Special Diet and Ethnic Foods.?

The Special Diet and Ethnic Foods Café will be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Hall A of the Anaheim Convention Center. Attendees will be able to sample a wide variety of foods, beverages and supplements that cater to specific kinds of consumers. The Café will feature diabetic, gluten-free, dairy-free, low-carb and other food categories based on unique dietary needs.

Such dietary needs also include ethnic and cultural foods, which are becoming more and more of a presence on the shelves of organic foods stores. Samples of organic varieties of kosher, Hispanic, Chinese and other ethnic foods will be available for the tasting at the café this year.