Statement by Lisa Gable, President, Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation on the Publication of RWJF Evaluation of the Calorie Commitment in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
September 17, 2014
Today, a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has confirmed that the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF) companies have removed 6.4 trillion calories from the marketplace, exceeding their May 2010 pledge to First Lady Michelle Obama to remove 1.5 trillion calories from the marketplace by 2015.
All of the member companies worked diligently to reduce calories in the marketplace by either introducing new lower calorie products, single-serve packages and/or changing the recipes of existing products. The largest calorie cuts came from sweets and snacks; cereals, granolas and other grain products; fats, oils and dressings; and beverages.
HWCF companies were the first companies to step forward to meet the First Lady’s challenge and proactively ask to be held publicly accountable for their progress through a third-party evaluation. Dr. Barry Popkin PhD, the W.R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor in the School of Public Health at University of North Carolina, who is leading the evaluation team, states, “This new source of big data on food production and purchasing opens unprecedented opportunities to collaborate with industry leaders to find far-reaching solutions that benefit both the health of Americans and companies’ bottom line.”
These company efforts together with the First Lady, policy makers, not-for-profits and choices by moms and dads are a powerful step in the right direction. We recognize there is more to be done, and we hope that this initiative will encourage others to join our effort.