Milling & Baking News - January 21, 2014 - 11

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Great progress cited in effort to
cut calories reaching marketplace
PRINCETON, N.J. - An initiative
aimed at reducing the number of calories consumed from foods and beverages produced by the nation's largest
consumer packaged goods companies
has yielded results far exceeding expectations, according to an evaluation
published Jan. 9 by the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation.
The study looked at progress against
a commitment by 16 leading food and
beverage companies to reduce by 1
trillion the calories in the food and
beverages they sell annually, between
the years 2007 and 2012. An additional
500 billion calories was to be cut by the
year 2015.
The R.W.J.F. evaluation found that
as of 2012, the companies already had
removed 6.4 trillion calories from the
U.S. marketplace, 540% more than
targeted for that year and 326% more
than the goal for 2015.
Overall, the companies reduced
their sale of calories to 54 trillion in
2012 from 60.4 trillion in 2007, a per
capita reduction of 78 calories per day,
the R.W.J.F. evaluation found.
The original pledge to make the
cuts were part of the Healthy Weight
Commitment Foundation, launched
in October 2009. Participants included
more than 40 of the nation's largest retailers, non-profit organizations, food
and beverage companies and trade
associations. The initiative is aimed at
reducing the incidence of obesity by
2015, particularly among children.
Sixteen companies in May 2010
committed to cut the caloric
density of foods as one pillar of
the H.W.C.F. effort.
In turn, the pledge was part
of an agreement between the
foundation and the Partnership for a Healthier America,
an organization established to
advance the goals of the "Let's
Move" campaign of First Lady
Michelle Obama. The latter initiative seeks to eliminate childhood obesity through work with
the private sector.
Elaborating on the results of its
evaluation, the R.W.J.F. said the
16 companies involved accounted
in 2007 for 36% of all calories from
packaged foods and beverages
consumed from products such as
ready-to-eat cereal, snacks, canned
soup and bottled beverages.
The 16 companies committed to
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the calorie-reduction pledge were:
 Bumble Bee Foods, L.L.C.
 Campbell Soup Co.
 ConAgra Foods, Inc.
 General Mills, Inc.
 The Hillshire Brands Co.
 Kellogg Co.
 Kraft Foods Group/Mondelez
International, Inc.
 Mars, Inc.
 McCormick & Company, Inc.
 Nestle USA
 PepsiCo, Inc.
 Post Holdings, Inc.
 The Coca-Cola Co.
 The Hershey Co.
 The J.M. Smucker Co.
 Unilever USA
At the time the pledge was made
in 2010, the companies said developing lower-calorie options, reformulating with lower calorie content and
altering portion sizes would be among
the paths they would pursue toward
reaching the goal.
The R.W.J.F. said researchers at
the University of North Carolina
in Chapel tallied the results. They

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combined data on food and beverages sold by participating companies with nutritional information for
those products.
"They then determined which individual products were included as
part of the pledge and tracked sales of
those products over them," the foundation said. "All data used were publically or commercially available."
The R.W.J.F. said the full, peer-reviewed study will be published later
in 2014.
"The companies whose sales we
analyzed have a big influence over
the foods and beverages almost every
American eats and drinks every day,"
said Barry Popkin, a professor in the
School of Public Health at U.N.C. and
leader of the evaluation team. "The
evaluation system we've created will
enable us to determine how changes
to what's sold influences what people
consume."
The R.W.J.F. went on to say that
better-for-you products were a leading growth engine for packaged foods
companies during this period.
"Making the shift from traditional
items to lower-calorie ones is not just
the right thing for customers, it's the
right thing for these companies' bottom lines," said C. Tracy Orleans, a senior scientist at the R.W.J.F. "The next
big question is how these changes to
what's available on store shelves actually impact the health of children and
families."
Participating companies also celebrated the progress identified in the
Nestle study.
Nestle USA said it was "proud to be
a part of the H.W.C.F." and identified
specific ways it has made progress in
calories reduction, including the reduction of the sugar content of its
Nesquik chocolate powder and reformulation of Stouffer's products
with the objective of reducing fat
and sodium content in sauces.
"We've made great progress
across our portfolio of brands in
finding creative solutions for product reformulations and lower calorie
options," said Chavanne Hanson,
Wellness Champion for Nestle USA.
"Our role in surpassing the Healthy
Weight Commitment Foundation pledge of 1.5 trillion calories
demonstrates our commitment
to be recognized and trusted
as the leading nutrition, health
and wellness company in the
U.S.A. and delivering world
class products to our consumers." MBN
Milling & Baking News January 21, 2014 / 11

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