• Create links from member company Web sites to www.Kidnetic.com.

• Incorporate www.Kidnetic.com content into your company Web site.

• Use www.Kidnetic.com graphics to create point-of-sale materials promoting healthy lifestyles and directing people to www.Kidnetic.com.

• Use www.Kidnetic.com materials in community-based programs.

One of the major reasons the National Uniformity for Food Act is so important to the snack food industry is illustrated in developments in California, where state officials have sued companies that make or serve French fries and potato chips because of their acrylamide content.

The legislation, if approved by Congress, would establish a set of uniform rules and standards for food safety and labeling administered by the Food and Drug Administration, and would supersede such laws as California’s Proposition 65, which enables such lawsuits.

Early this year, a lawsuit filed by California Attorney General Bill Lockyer against French fry and potato chip companies was coordinated with a private plaintiff case filed in 2002. The lawsuit, however, had been stayed pending action by the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and with another case filed last summer by Environmental World Watch. The new judge in the coordinated case lifted the stay and ordered all the cases to proceed toward trial, although no date has yet been set.

One of the issues before the judge was a motion for summary judgment that had been requested by plaintiffs early in the case and then stayed. Following a July 18 hearing, the judge gave the parties six months for discovery on the summary judgment motion issues and said he would hear and decide the motion then.

In addition, in May, another trial lawyers group, the Environmental Law Foundation, sent notices of its intent to sue several small manufacturers of potato chips and more than a dozen large grocers for failure to provide Proposition 65 warnings. However, those lawsuits have not yet been filed.

Meanwhile, OEHHA withdrew its proposed regulations for acrylamide in March and promised to issue revised regulations by June, although as of Aug. 1, they had not been published.

Change is about the only constant facing the snack food industry today, and it takes knowledge and skill to deal with changing forces effectively.

Mid-level and senior sales and marketing or operations/manufacturing executives have an opportunity to gain important insights into the rapidly changing business environment that faces every snack food company today by attending the 2006 Management Workshop, Nov. 7-9, at the Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel in Baltimore.

The conference will focus on how consumers are changing, the growing influence of the Hispanic population, the powerful economic force provided by today’s Baby Boomers and new trends in product sales and marketing.

There also will be ample opportunity for networking and social activities, including a reception and dinner at the ESPN Zone on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when the conference opens.

SFA’s Total Quality Management (TQM) Short Course for the Snack Food Industry, to be held Sept. 11-14 on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, will offer a series of problem solving exercises during each afternoon lab session.

Taking place in the Gould Pilot Plant at Ohio State University, the sessions will challenge attendees to solve manufacturing problems that they are likely to face at their own companies. Three challenges will be presented each afternoon on Tuesday and Wednesday. Attendees will work through a problem with other students and with the assistance of an instructor.

Following the Management Workshop will be the Pretzel and Baked Snacks Seminar, to be held at the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor Hotel, Nov. 9-11.

Participants in this conference will attend practical, basic informational sessions covering developments in baked snacks, whole grains, oven systems and nutritional issues.

This is an excellent educational opportunity for snack food company mid-level and senior sales and marketing or operations/manufacturing executives to get updates on the latest developments involving the pretzel and baked snacks categories.