The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) has announced that participating food and beverage companies have exceeded their goal of reducing 1.5 trillion calories in the marketplace in the United States. This announcement comes three years after a 2010 commitment by the HWCF, and its 16 food and beverage corporate partners, to the First Lady’s Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to reduce calories by 1.5 trillion by 2015.
“Our industry has an important role to play in helping people lead healthy lives and our actions are having a positive impact,” said Indra Nooyi, HWCF Chair, Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo. “We see continued opportunities to give consumers the choices they’re looking for and to work collaboratively with the public and non-profit sectors on initiatives that enable continued progress.”
The progress report showcased that the HWCF calorie reduction in the marketplace since the baseline year of 2007 was achieved by giving new choices and continued great taste for the consumer.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a philanthropy devoted to improving the health and healthcare of all Americans, is supporting an independent evaluation to determine whether HWCF has met its calorie-reduction goal. That evaluation will be released in the fall. Follow-up studies supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation also will evaluate subsequent effects on children’s diets.
The HWCF participating companies include: Campbell Soup, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Co., Kraft Foods, McCormick & Co., Nestlé USA, PepsiCo, Post Foods/Ralston Foods, Sara Lee, Coca-Cola, Hershey, J.M. Smucker, and Unilever.
