WASHINGTON — The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation has pledged to reduce 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015. As an interim step toward this goal, HWCF will seek to reduce calories by 1 trillion in 2012.
Participating companies will do so 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.
It’s all part of a new agreement between HWCF and Partnership for a Healthier America in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign to curb childhood obesity.
The deal was announced at the White House Monday in a press conference with Michelle Obama, who is honorary chair of the partnership, an organization working to mobilize action around the specific goals of the Let’s Move! campaign.
Under the terms of the agreement, HWCF will report annually to the partnership on the progress being made toward this pledge. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will also valuate the HWCF’s efforts.
“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,” David Mackay, HWCF chair and Kellogg’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The HWCF was formed last year to help Americans achieve healthy weight by balancing the energy (calories) they consume with the energy they expend through physical activity. Manufacturer members include Bumble Bee Foods, Campbell Soup Co., ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg and Kraft. The Grocery Manufacturers Association applauds the new initiative.
“America’s food and beverage companies are committed to a genuine partnership with the first lady to help reverse the trend of childhood obesity within a generation,” GMA President and CEO Pamela Bailey said in a statement. Over the last several years, manufacturers have improved the nutritional profile of more than 10,000 product options to reduce sugar, fats, calories and sodium, Bailey said.
