Fact Sheet
Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation
Initiative to Reduce Calories in the Marketplace
May 2013
May 2010 Announcement

On May 17, 2010, the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation members pledged to
reduce 1.5 trillion calories from the marketplace by the end of 2015.
o As an interim goal, HWCF members pledge to reduce 1 trillion calories by the
end of 2012.
o These calorie reductions compare to the level available in the marketplace in
2007.
May 2013 Announcement

The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) today announced that
America’s top food and beverage companies have surpassed their goal of reducing
1.5 trillion calories in the marketplace in the United States three years ahead of
schedule. This announcement comes three years after a 2010 commitment by the
HWCF, and its 16 food and beverage corporate partners, to the First Lady’s
Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) to reduce calories by 1.5 trillion by 2015.

Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation food and beverage member companies
pursued their calorie-reduction goals by developing, introducing and selling more
lower-calorie options, changing recipes where possible to lower the calorie content
of current products, or reducing portion sizes of existing single-serve products.
They continue to meet the consumers’ needs for taste, convenience and value.
Market and Consumer Impact

Reduced calorie consumption and increased physical activity are both crucial to
arresting the problem of obesity. Today, many Americans are consuming more
calories than they expend. Experts refer to this imbalance as the “energy gap” and
point to it as the cause of America’s obesity epidemic.

Obesity, at its core, is a calorie issue. Consumers are demanding more choices and
are responding positively to efforts to provide lower-calorie options.

According to a Hudson Institute report, lower-calorie products drove 82 percent of
the sales growth among the HWCF member CPG companies studied, over four times
the rate of traditional high-calorie products.

Lower-calorie sales increased by over $1.3 billion, compared to less than a $300
million increase for high-calorie traditional products.

Following HWCF’s initial announcement in 2010, other companies have stepped
forward with commitments of their own with PHA. Providing solutions to
consumers, whether through lower calorie options in the grocery store, controlled
portion sizes or increased fruits and vegetables in restaurants, or public education
campaigns that educate the public on the importance of active, healthy living, these
initiatives are supplying the American people with the tools, information and
solutions they need to maintain a healthy weight.
Evaluation Process

HWCF hired Georgetown Economic Services to provide an initial progress report on
the calorie commitment. GES acquired data from a variety of sources to measure
sales in the marketplace and calories associated with those sales. The principal
sources of sales data were The Nielsen Company, which tracks sales of foods and
beverages in multiple retail channels, and Management Science Associates, Inc.,
which tracks sales of products in vending machines. The principal sources of calorie
data were Gladson, which maintains a database of historical and current nutrition
information, and Mintel Group Limited, which tracks nutrition information on
product introductions by food and beverage companies. Analysts reviewed
numerous additional sources of sales and nutrition data to verify and refine the
accuracy of the information in the database, a task that continues.

RWJF, the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health
and health care of all Americans, is supporting a rigorous, independent evaluation to
determine whether HWCF has met its calorie-reduction goal. That evaluation will be
released in the fall. Follow-up studies supported by RWJF also will evaluate
subsequent effects on children's diets.

When the calorie commitment was announced, Healthy Weight Commitment
Foundation entered into an agreement with the Partnership for a Healthier America,
whose honorary chair is First Lady Michelle Obama.
o The Partnership for a Healthier America is an independent, non-partisan
organization that is working to mobilize the private sector, foundations,
thought leaders, media, and local communities to action around the specific
goals of the First Lady’s Let’s Move! campaign to curb child obesity within a
generation. (www.aHealthierAmerica.org)

Under the terms of the agreement, the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation
(HWCF) reported to the Partnership on the progress that we have made toward this
pledge.
HWCF Participating Manufacturers*
Bumble Bee Foods, LLC
Campbell Soup Company
ConAgra Foods
General Mills, Inc.
Kellogg Company
Kraft Foods, inc.
Mars, Incorporated
McCormick & Company, Inc.
Nestlé USA
PepsiCo, Inc.
Post Foods/Ralston Foods, LLC
Sara Lee Corporation
The Coca-Cola Company
The Hershey Company
The J.M. Smucker Company
Unilever
* Since signing the commitment in 2010, three of the original member companies have split
into separate entities. Kraft Foods is now both Kraft Foods and Mondelēz International,
Sara Lee Corporation is now D.E. Master Blenders and Hillshire Brands and Ralston
Foods/Post Food, LLC (Ralcorp Holdings, Inc.) is now Ralston Foods Brand (Ralcorp
Holdings Inc.) and Post Foods, LLC. Each of these entities continues to work toward the
broader calorie commitment.
About Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation
The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (www.healthyweightcommit.org) brings
together over 230 retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, sporting goods
and insurance companies, a professional sports organization, NGOs, trade associations, and
the U.S. Army aimed at doing their part to help families reduce obesity, especially childhood
obesity.
In 2011, HWCF launched the Together Counts™ campaign, a first-of-its-kind, interactive
campaign that encourages families to eat their meals around a table. It gives them the
inspiration and ideas to get active together. And it puts a powerful tool in the hands of
teachers and school nurses—Energy Balance 101—to instill in young mind’s the need to
balance calories and activity (www.togethercounts.com).