Kellogg, Coke, Nestle Partner for a Healthier America
The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) joined First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America on May 17, 2010, in announcing its new pledge to reduce 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015.
Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation manufacturing companies, like Kellogg Company, Coca-Cola North America, General Mills, Nestle USA, PepsiCo and Bumble Bee Foods, will pursue their calorie reduction goal by developing and introducing lower-calorie options, changing recipes where possible to lower the calorie content of current products, or reducing portion sizes of existing single-serve products. These calorie reductions are in comparison with what was available in the marketplace in 2008.
The Partnership for a Healthier America, for which the First Lady serves as honorary chair, is an independent, non-partisan organization that is working to mobilize action around the specific goals of the Let's Move! campaign to curb child obesity within a generation.
"The First Lady has shown tremendous leadership in calling for national action to end childhood obesity," says David Mackay, chair of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation and CEO of Kellogg Company. "Through this effort, the companies that make up the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation will provide consumers with additional healthier food options that help them achieve and maintain a healthy diet."
Under the terms of the agreement, HWCF will report annually to the Partnership on the progress that we are making toward this pledge. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, also will support a rigorous, independent evaluation of how the HWCF's efforts to reduce calories in the marketplace affect calories consumed by children and adolescents. RWJF will publicly report its findings.
As part of their effort to make healthier food available to Americans, HWCF members continue to take other steps to enhance the products in their portfolios, including adding vital nutrients such as fiber and whole grains, and fruits and vegetables, and increasing the number of great-tasting, convenient and healthier options in the food supply. They will continue to meet the consumers' needs for taste, convenience and value.
"America's food and beverage companies have a strong track record of innovation and providing consumers with healthier products," says Lisa Gable, executive director of the HWCF. "With this initiative they are moving farther and faster. The Foundation's member companies are giving Americans tools to reduce calorie consumption." To learn more about the Partnership, visit www.aHealthierAmerica.org.