By: Tommy Hamamoto, U.S. Grains Council director in Japan

Japanese consumers are among the world’s most health conscious, and last week’s Health Ingredients Show in Japan drew more than 40,000 visitors including food manufacturers, journalists, and representatives of trading houses.

This was a great opportunity to show U.S. healthy food products like beta-glucan barley and sorghum. The U.S. Grains Council participated in the U.S. Pavilion at the show. There was a lot of interest, especially in high-antioxidant sorghum products and its use as new ingredients for health-oriented beverages, spices, and seasonings.

During the show, the Council held a short seminar on health benefits and cooking characteristics to educate the audiences who are looking for new health-oriented ingredients. From comments at the show, it seems that interest in high-antioxidant sorghum has increased and that people in the food industry may be waiting and expecting for this product to become available soon in Japan.

This is something the Council will follow up on. For several years, the Council has been working in Japan to increase awareness of food sorghum as a gluten-free product and as a healthy grain that meets Japanese flavor preferences.