Food companies will remove 1.5 trillion calories
WASHINGTON
The companies made the announcement through the Healthy Weight
Commitment Foundation, a coalition of retailers, food and beverage
manufacturers and industry trade associations. They pledged to
reduce the calories as part of an agreement with a group of
nonprofit organizations concerned with childhood obesity, first
lady Michelle Obama said Monday.
"This is precisely the kind of private sector commitment we
need," said Mrs. Obama, who earlier this year launched her own
"Let's Move" anti-obesity campaign.
Food companies concerned about national and local efforts to
raise food taxes and a rising tide of lawmakers preparing to write
anti-obesity measures have publicly endorsed the first lady's
message and pledged to make their foods healthier.
The industry foundation said the companies will introduce lower
calorie foods, change product recipes and reduce portion sizes to
achieve the goal, seeking to reduce 1 trillion of the 1.5 trillion
by 2012.
Mrs. Obama has urged the food industry to speed up efforts to
produce healthier foods and reduce marketing of unhealthy foods to
children. In a speech to an industry association in March, she
urged companies not to find creative ways to market products as
healthy -- including reducing fat and replacing it with sugar, or
vice versa -- but to increase nutrients as well.
To keep the companies accountable, the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation, a nonpartisan philanthropic and research organization
that works to improve the nation's health, will evaluate how the
groups' efforts affect the number of calories consumed by children
and adolescents.
"We're confident their commitment to this cause is sincere and
measurable -- and thus has real potential for impact," said Risa
Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation. "What remains unknown is what effect it will have on
efforts to prevent childhood obesity."
The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation has more than 80
members, including General Mills Inc., ConAgra Foods Inc., Kraft
Foods Inc., Kellogg Co., Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Hershey
Co.