Bumble Bee Foods, one of the United States' leading tuna canners, has joined the newly created Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a national initiative formed to help reduce obesity, particularly childhood obesity, by 2015.
The San Diego company is a founding member of the coalition of more than 40 retailers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and food and beverage manufacturers in a multi-year effort to encourage behavioral changes and provide consumers with the tools to achieve a healthy weight through energy balance.
"The focus of the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation aligns very well with our mission to provide products that meet consumer demand for healthy, nutritious, affordable and convenient foods harvested in a sustainable manner," said Chris Lischewski, Bumble Bee president and CEO. "Given the high nutritional value of our product portfolio and the types of retail and consumer programs we traditionally commit to, it's very natural that we would support an initiative to educate consumers about maintaining a healthier lifestyle — one that includes informing of the importance of reducing calories and increasing physical exercise."
The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation efforts will include connecting with consumers in the marketplace, empowering employees in the workplace and creating healthy habits in schools. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will support an independent, objective evaluation of the marketplace initiative; the National Business Group on Health will evaluate the impact of the workplace efforts; and the University of California at Berkeley Center for Weight and Health will evaluate the Healthy School Partnership.
Back to home >
October 5, 2009
