General Mills Furthers Commitment to Promoting Improved Nutrition and Active Lifestyles with USDA’s MyPyramid Corporate Challenge
06/10/2008
General Mills today announced its commitment as an official U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) MyPyramid Corporate Challenge partner. The MyPyramid Corporate Challenge represents a coalition of food and electronic companies who have signed the Memorandum of Intent with the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) to promote improved nutrition and fight obesity.
“The USDA’s MyPyramid is inherently built into the dialogue General Mills has with moms every day through programs such as Box Tops for Education and USDA’s WIC program,” said Susan Crockett, vice president and senior technology officer of health and nutrition for General Mills. “We’re thrilled to again commit our support to such a fabulous and worthwhile effort.”
As part of this commitment, General Mills is developing MyPyramid MyLife -- a program designed to promote the relevance of MyPyramid to consumers from different stages of life and cultures. MyPyramid MyLife will offer consumers an online toolkit of resources and several new programs targeted at creating a dialogue with moms. Upcoming programs include a nutrition and recipe Web site for WIC professionals and participants and a series of community-based nutrition classes for young Latina women. General Mills will also promote the tools available at MyPyramid.gov to advance awareness of USDA resources.
“The purpose of partnering with MyPyramid Corporate Challenge program is to equip consumers with the information that they need to make smart decisions about eating more healthfully and being more physically active,” said Dr. Brian Wansink, executive director of the USDA CNPP. “General Mills plays an important part in bringing that vision to reality.”
General Mills is helping make lives healthier in numerous ways, including increasing people’s intake of whole grain, delivering important nutrients, providing foods that contribute to a healthy heart, and providing low-calorie or portion-controlled options to help them manage their weight.
In fact, General Mills now has 250 products that contain 130 or fewer calories per serving. They include cereals, soups, yogurt, granola bars, dinner rolls and vegetables.
General Mills currently supports the following online consumer resources that promote MyPyramid:
General Mills’ commitment to MyPyramid Corporate Challenge will further these efforts to improve physical activity levels and nutrition among youth through collaboration among local and national stakeholder groups.
For more information about the MyPyramid Corporate Challenge, visit www.MyPyramid.gov.
For more information contact:
Heidi Geller
General Mills
763-764-6364
