Cargill launches new initiative to help manufacturers meet customers’ kids nutrition guidelines

30-Apr-2013 - Last updated on 30-Apr-2013 at 16:57 GMT

Cargill: "The pressure on companies to improve the nutritional profiles of products aimed at children is coming from all angles – consumers, regulators, NGOs and company shareholders"

Cargill has launched a new initiative designed to help manufacturers improve the nutritional profile of foods marketed to children and meet a swathe of new guidelines from retailers, the government and other organizations setting nutrition criteria for kids’ foods.

To support the initiative, Cargill has launched a new website to give manufacturers formulation ideas and connect them with the latest news, trends, regulatory updates and stakeholder actions, shaping the childhood nutrition landscape.

The pressure on companies to improve the nutritional profiles of products aimed at children is coming from all angles

The site also collates information on several schemes setting nutrition criteria for kids’ foods and beverages from USDA’s school meal program to the industry-backed Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), Walt Disney’s new guidelines and Walmart’s Good For You scheme.

“The pressure on companies to improve the nutritional profiles of products aimed at children is coming from all angles – consumers, regulators, NGOs and company shareholders,” said Pat Bowe, corporate vice president of Cargill’s Food Ingredients & Systems businesses.

“Very few companies have the experience, expertise and breadth of Cargill to help lead the food industry through reformulation toward our shared national goal: items of high nutritional quality that retain taste, value and convenience for families."

Professor: The dietary guidelines set out the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of child nutrition, but it will take industry to provide the ‘how’

Bowe added: “With this initiative, we are focusing resources to help customers develop formulations with less trans and saturated fat, sugar and sodium, and more whole grains, fiber and protein.”

Dr. Robert Murray, MD, a pediatrician and professor in the Department of Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University, added: "The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend dietary patterns that support good health and set out the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of child nutrition, but it will take industry to provide the ‘how’.”

Click here to access Cargill's new website, which shows manufacturers how to reduce sodium, fat and sugar, and increase whole grains and other beneficial ingredients in foods marketed towards children.