| Is it going to help you lose weight if Kraft offers less product per package?? According to them the theory is that people eat every bit of what is given to them. So by that argument, if they put less Oreos in a bag, you eat less of them.
Well I won't buy it. Is Kraft going to drop the price? Prices to drop at Walmart? In the vending machines?? I doubt it and if I wanted to OD on Oreos one night, I would buy as many bags as was necessary. And for a regular day, I'd be forced into buying TWO bags instead of just one, to keep my Oreo blood-levels stable. But with 2 bags, now THAT would force me to eat almost double my usual dose. Makes no sense to me! 
If people cannot control their eating, changing the package size makes them feel just that much more guilty "  I ate 14 bags of Oreos- bad, bad, now go girl and make yourself feel better by eating that Haagen-Dazs Rum Raisin."
http://www.kraft.com/obesity/pressrelease.html
NORTHFIELD, IL, July 1, 2003 - In response to rising obesity rates around the world, Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT) said today it will initiate a new series of steps to further strengthen the alignment of its products and marketing practices with societal needs.
“The rise in obesity is a complex public health challenge of global proportions,” said Betsy D. Holden, Co-CEO of Kraft Foods. “Just as obesity has many causes, it can be solved only if all sectors of society do their part to help. Kraft is committed to product choices and marketing practices that will help encourage healthy lifestyles and make it easier to eat and live better.”
The commitments Kraft is making, which are global in scope and supplement a variety of actions the company is already taking, will focus in four key areas: product nutrition, marketing practices, consumer information and public advocacy and dialogue. Some are fully developed and nearing implementation, while other steps will require further development, including continued input from experts and interest groups outside the company.
To aid in this process, Kraft is forming a global council of advisors to help it structure its ongoing response to obesity and develop policies, standards, measures and timetables for implementation.
Among the steps Kraft is committed to taking in the four areas are:
Product nutrition
A cap on the portion size of single-serve packages
Guidelines for the nutritional characteristics of all products
A planned effort to improve existing products and provide alternative choices, where appropriate
Marketing practices
The elimination of all in-school marketing
Locally appropriate criteria to use with the vending industry in different regions of the world to determine the selection of Kraft products to be sold through in-school vending machines
Guidelines for all advertising and marketing practices, including advertising and marketing to children, to encourage appropriate eating behaviors and active lifestyles
Consumer information
Nutrition labeling in all markets worldwide, including markets where labeling is not required
Added nutrition and/or activity-related information on product labels and company websites to assist consumer choices
Guidelines for the use of health-related claims in all markets worldwide, including markets where no restrictions exist
Advocacy and dialogue
Advocacy for appropriate public policies to engage schools and communities in helping to improve fitness and nutrition
Increased dialogue with key stakeholders to help guide the company's continuing response to the obesity issue
“What people eat is ultimately a matter of personal choice, but we can help make it an educated choice,” said Roger K. Deromedi, Co-CEO of Kraft Foods. “And helping them get more active is every bit as important as helping them eat better. By providing people with products and information they can use to improve their eating and activity behaviors, we can do our part to help arrest the rise in obesity.”
Kraft is currently in the process of forming its expert advisory council, which will bring together leading voices from key disciplines important to the company's response to changing patterns in diet, activity and weight. These will include experts in obesity, nutrition, physical activity, public health, human behavior, nutrient fortification and lifestyle education and intervention programs. Kraft expects to complete the formation of the council shortly.
Among the first priorities of the council will be an overall assessment of Kraft's current and planned responses to the growth of obesity. In addition, the council will be asked to help develop detailed standards and measures for implementing several of the specific commitments the company has made. These include:
Determining the levels at which the portion size of its single-serve packages will be capped
Developing measures to guide the nutrient characteristics of all products and to help improve existing products and provide alternative choices, where appropriate
Developing locally appropriate criteria to use with the vending industry in different regions of the world to determine the selection of Kraft products intended to be sold through in-school vending machines
Creating a standardized approach for nutrition labeling and the use of health-related claims in countries where such regulations do not exist
The company is targeting the end of 2003 to complete the development of these standards and measures. Implementation will begin in 2004 and will likely require two to three years to complete.
The commitments announced today are in addition to a range of other programs the company has conducted for many years to help people improve their eating and activity behaviors. These include:
Providing a wide variety of food choices, including numerous reduced-fat and sugar-free products
Providing extensive healthy-lifestyle information and recipes on kraftfoods.com and other company websites, booklets and brochures
Creating the Kraft Diabetic Choices program to provide products and important health and lifestyle information for diabetics
Investing more than $17 million since 1997 to significantly increase the amount of fruits and vegetables distributed by U.S. food banks to people in need through the Kraft Fresh Produce Initiative, as part of a larger ongoing program to assist food banks in many countries to improve the nutrition quality of the foods they provide
Contributing $2 million to the International Food Information Council Foundation to help fund Kidnetic.com, a state-of-the-art healthy-lifestyle website for 9-12 year olds and their parents
Developing an 8-week healthy-lifestyle course for Latino families, currently being piloted in four U.S. cities
More information about Kraft's commitments to help address obesity is available on the company's corporate website at http://kraft.com/obesity.
Kraft Foods markets many of the world's leading food brands, including Kraft cheese, Maxwell House and Jacobs coffees, Nabisco cookies and crackers, Oscar Mayer meats, Philadelphia cream cheese, Post cereals and Milka chocolates, in more than 150 countries.
Contact:
Michael Mudd (North America)
847-646-2868
mmudd@kraft.com
Richard Johnson (International)
44 208 5802417
rjohnson@krafteurope.com | |
