General Mills’ fiscal 2012 health improvements include industry-leading whole grain innovation and marked progress in sodium reduction
Published 08-21-12
Submitted by General Mills
General Mills has improved the health profile of 68 percent of its U.S. Retail sales volume since 2005. In fiscal 2012 alone, the company improved nearly 16 percent of its U.S. Retail sales volume. Improvements include adding whole grains, fiber and calcium, and reducing calories, sugar, sodium and trans fat. General Mills first began tracking and quantifying health improvements in 2005.
“Health improvements have increasingly become a primary driver of our innovation, both on existing products and as we develop new products,” said Marc Belton, General Mills executive vice president of Global Strategy, Growth and Marketing Innovation. “We know that people expect great taste from our products, so we are careful to balance strong health benefits and health improvements with great taste. But it would be accurate to say that General Mills is squarely focused on health, because we know that consumers have come to know and expect that from General Mills.”
General Mills’ largest health advancements in fiscal 2012 include increasing whole grain and reducing sodium.
In 2012, General Mills reached a multi-year reformulation milestone across its portfolio of Big G cereals to ensure that every Big G cereal now has more whole grain than any other single ingredient. Every Big G cereal now contains at least 9 grams of whole grain per serving, and more than 20 General Mills cereals deliver at least 16 grams. This whole grain innovation was accomplished while delivering the same great taste consumers expect from General Mills.
General Mills also accomplished multiple sodium reductions across its portfolio of products in fiscal 2012. General Mills previously announced that it would trim sodium, on average, by 20 percent in its top 10 categories by 2015. This sodium reduction effort represents about 40 percent of the company’s U.S. Retail portfolio — everything from snacks to soups to side dishes. General Mills has made strong progress toward this goal.
Sodium reductions in fiscal 2012 were made across General Mills’ portfolio. Examples include a 10 percent or more sodium reduction on several Chex Mix varieties, several Big G cereals, and a number of Hamburger Helper dinners, as well as other products in the meals category.
Other fiscal 2012 improvements include:
General Mills’ Health Metric
General Mills tracks and quantifies health profile improvements using its “Health Metric” — a corporate initiative overseen by General Mills’ Health and Wellness Council and the General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition — to encourage and measure the company’s progress on nutrition and health improvements.
Since 2005, when General Mills first implemented its Health Metric, the nutrition profiles of more than 650 different General Mills products in the U.S. have been improved in one or more of the following ways:
“Improving the health profile of products is technically challenging given the multiple roles ingredients play in a recipe, so it takes time, investment and technical achievement to get it right,” said Susan Crockett, Ph.D., R.D., FADA and leader of the General Mills Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition. “Today’s announcement again demonstrates that General Mills is committed to improving the health profile of our products without making consumers compromise taste for health.”
New Products in Fiscal 2013
General Mills also continues to provide consumers with healthful new product options. New products launched this summer include:
For a complete overview of General Mills’ commitment to health and wellness, download the company’s 2012 Global Responsibility Report at GeneralMills.com.
About General Mills
General Mills is one of the world’s leading food companies, operating in more than 100 countries. Its brands include Cheerios, Fiber One, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, and Wanchai Ferry. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, General Mills had fiscal 2012 worldwide sales of US $16.7 billion. Learn more about General Mills by visiting GeneralMills.com and A Taste of General Mills, the company’s corporate blog.
About General Mills
General Mills is one of the world’s leading food companies, operating in more than 100 countries around the world. Its brands include Cheerios, Fiber One, Häagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Yoplait, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Wanchai Ferry, Yoki and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., USA, General Mills had fiscal 2015 worldwide sales of US $18.8 billion.
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