Bundy Baking Museum vintage baking equipment displayed at the AACCI centennial meeting
The Bundy Baking Museum lent the AACI a display of bakery artifacts to display at its centennial meeting and celebration.

What is it about the 100-year mark that makes celebrations so special? Whether it is a beloved relative’s 100th birthday or an organization’s centennial anniversary, much of what we honor is sheer tenacity.

This year, AACC International (AACCI) hit that milestone, and earlier this week, it gave itself a party worth remembering, along with reporting a lot of solid science. The big problem at the time that 11 milling chemists gathered at Kansas City on May 8, 1915, was uniformity in measurement. They decried the “grievous lack of system in the manner of reporting data.” The science certainly has advanced.

The 2015 program in Minneapolis took a long look at the future of wheat via conventional and biotech methods. It took a deep dive into the controversies of grain-based foods and chronic health issues. And as it has since its start, AACCI’s technical sessions examined progress in analyzing, measuring and improving all things cereal. The group’s divisions participated well, with presentations involving their histories and areas of specialty. The exhibit hall was expanded to handle extra demand, and attendees benefited from an awe-inspiring display of bakery artifacts lent by the Bundy Baking Museum.