Our approach to nutrition
Nutrition lies at the heart of our Vitality mission. Individuals and governments everywhere are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of diet on public health. For some, 'over-nutrition' – leading to obesity and heart disease – is the primary challenge. For others it is 'undernutrition' – not getting enough of the right type of nutrients, largely due to widespread poverty in developing economies.
In 2004 we stepped up our activities in nutrition through a public commitment to an action programme to help individuals make healthier choices by:
- seeking improvements in the nutritional quality of our brands;
- enhancing nutrition labelling and increasing consumer information;
- and developing new products through innovation.
We recognise that working in partnership with governments, communities and non–profit organisations is essential to delivering these commitments.
Nutrition Enhancement Programme
We continue to work to reduce levels of trans fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar in our products through our Nutrition Enhancement Programme. We do this by assessing our products using benchmarks based on international dietary guidelines.
Over the past two years we have reviewed the vast majority of our product formulations, including nearly all our retail products and more than half our foodservice products.
From this review process, we found that over a third of our products are in line with internationally accepted dietary guidelines for fat, sugar and salt, qualifying them for the Choices stamp.
The Nutrition Enhancement Programme is a continuing process to help us to make further improvements across our portfolio and enable us to respond as consumer needs change and new technologies for improving nutritional quality develop.
| Nutrition Enhancement Programme 2005 – 2006 achievements |
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Sugar
Fat
Salt
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Nutrition labelling
The Choices International Foundation is being established with responsibility for overseeing the use of the Choices stamp. The aim is for Choices to become an independent, international standard used across the food industry, with its qualifying criteria regularly reviewed by an independent, international committee of food and nutrition scientists.
Consumer information
In response to growing public demand for improved nutritional labelling of food products, we are working to provide clear, simple information for consumers.
In May 2006 the Choices programme was launched. It uses a front-of-pack stamp to make it easier for consumers to identify healthier options – foods and drinks that are in line with internationally accepted dietary advice for fat, sugar and salt. The front-of pack stamp is complemented by back-of pack nutrition information.
Following the launch in the US, Netherlands and Belgium in 2006, we plan to roll it out to all our major markets by the end of 2007. Over a third of products already qualify.
Where possible, we partner with others in the industry. For example, in Europe, we are participating in a voluntary CIAA (Confederation of Food and Drink Industries of the European Union) nutritional labeling initiative which complements Choices. Under this initiative, on the back of all our packs we will show the levels of eight key nutrients (energy, protein, carbohydrates, sugars, fat, saturates, fibre and sodium) and four of these (energy, total fat, sugar and salt) as percentages of guideline daily amounts (GDA). We will also show calories on the front of packs as a percentage of GDA.
Culinary expertise
Our R&D text kitchen in the Netherlands is one of our centres of culinary expertise. Its chefs create ideas for new products, recipes and product demonstrations for our Foodsolutions professional catering business, as well as providing culinary training for employees.
Innovating to widen consumer choice
We continue to invest in foods that provide tasty and healthy options for consumers. More than two-thirds of the products in our development pipeline have what we call 'Vitality' benefits: specific nutritional and health benefits. Highlights from 2006 include:
- a new low-fat magarine, Rama IDEA!, containing important nutrients for the brain, launched in 14 European countries with plans to extend to five more in 2007;
- sales of Flora/Becel pro·activ's cholesterol-lowering products grew by around 7% in 2006;
- in Europe, sales of Knorr Vie fruit and vegetable shots grew by 142% in 2006, with more than 100 million bottles sold.
Tackling obesity
Obesity is now a public health concern for developed and developing countries alike. According to the World Health Organization and the International Obesity Taskforce, more than 1 billion adults and 155 million school-aged children are overweight or obese.
Changes in diet and lifestyle, combined with a lack of physical activity, are two of the root causes of this trend. As a global foods company, where we can make a difference is by helping people improve their diets and influencing consumer behaviour.
In 2006 we strengthened our approach:
- on labelling, we committed to including energy labelling (calorie content) on all our food products in all our markets;
- on product formulation, we defined a unique set of metrics to help evaluate the optimal level of calories in our different foods based on the role they play in a person’s diet, ie whether they are part of a main meal or a snack;
- on advertising to children, we have placed restrictions on our food and beverage marketing to children under 12 for all products except those that qualify for our Choices stamp (see Consumers);
- to increase consumer choice, we continued to offer alternatives such as Hellmann's Original Mayonnaise (80% fat), Hellmann's Light (40% fat) and Hellmann's Extra Light (7% fat);
- to encourage physical activity, we continued to support initiatives that encourage an active lifestyle and raise awareness of the risks of heart disease – such as Flora/Becel's marathon sponsorships and the renewal of our partnership with the World Heart Federation for a further three years.
Tackling under-nutrition
Our foods can play an important role in tackling under-nutrition. Our fortified brands include Rama/Blue Band margarines enriched with vitamins A, B and D, and Annapurna, our iodised salt. In 2006, we launched Amaze Brainfood in Turkey, a range of milk drinks and cereal snacks which contain one-third of the nutrients children need daily for their mental development.
We also participate in global initiatives to improve nutrition through food fortification via our involvement with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
