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UK FOOD INDUSTRY SUPPORTS HEALTHY EATING PROGRAMME

UK FOOD INDUSTRY SUPPORTS PRIMARY SCHOOLS HEALTHY EATING PROGRAMME

Northern Foods, Nestlé and Cargill fund national roll-out of PhunkyFoods, helping to promote healthy balanced lifestyles for children

London/Leeds/Lincoln, 24 April 2007: PhunkyFoods (www.phunkyfoods.com), a 'cut through' programme of food education and health awareness, designed for the critically important under-11 age group is set for a national roll-out, thanks to the support of three of Britain's leading food companies.

PhunkyFoods is a curriculum-based independent programme which provides weekly lesson plans for each primary school year group. It has been successfully trialled since 2005 in over 100 schools across Yorkshire. Created by Purely Nutrition, a respected Yorkshire-based nutritional consultancy, the pilot stage has been supported by seed funding from Northern Foods.

Now Northern Foods, Nestlé and Cargill will jointly support the programme which encourages healthier lifestyles by providing the funding for the scheme's expansion to a growing number of schools across the UK. Developed specifically for primary school children, the year-round programme helps ensure children learn fundamental life skills relating to nutrition, physical activity and food choice. All lesson materials are written and developed by independent registered nutritionists and consultant teachers and none of the funding partners have input into the programme content.

With further funding from Nestlé for schools around its local communities across the UK, and from Cargill, - along with its joint venture partner, agricultural business Frontier Agriculture - the PhunkyFoods programme will be introduced to a further 50 schools over the coming year.

In addition, the proven success of the programme is attracting the support of Local Education Authorities. Ealing, Liverpool and Hereford LEAs have so far committed to trialling the PhunkyFoods programme in their own schools in support of their national healthy schools status targets. The funding support from the sponsoring food companies allows the programme costs to these LEAs to be significantly subsidised. In total over 375 schools will be participating in the PhunkyFoods programme by September 2007 across the UK.

Hilary Baker, Communications Director at Northern Foods, believes the food industry is taking a lead in a complex area where tangible progress has proved elusive. "By working together we can help the PhunkyFoods programme expand to the next stage. This collaboration by the food industry provides a model for bringing this proven scheme for helping to shape the future health of the nation to a far greater number of children," she said.

Ian Rayson, Director of Corporate Affairs, Nestlé UK, said: "It is important that we help people make healthier choices – not only by constantly improving the nutritional content of our products, but also by supporting improved education about healthy eating. The independent PhunkyFoods programme will support our local communities by helping many children start out in life with a better understanding of healthy eating and the importance of an active and balanced lifestyle."

Geraldine O'Shea, Director of Communication, Cargill Europe and Africa, said:

"PhunkyFoods is an excellent programme, as it not only helps educate children about the need for a balanced diet, but also because it is designed in a way for them to have fun. Cargill is a major supplier of ingredients to the UK food industry so we are delighted to be working with our sister company, Frontier Agriculture, Northern Foods and Nestlé, to support an initiative that helps children form a good understanding of food and nutrition so they can make informed eating choices throughout their lives."

PhunkyFoods' Nutritional Director, Dr Jennie Cockroft, said: "We are really pleased to have attracted food industry support which will help PhunkyFoods achieve national scale. Each partner is supporting the programme in their own local communities and this funding model means schools in those areas can take a major step towards their 2009 Healthy Schools targets. We sincerely hope other food industry players will get involved in the supporting group, helping us to extend the benefits of the programme to more children." -ENDS-

Notes for Editors

About PhunkyFoods

PhunkyFoods (www.phunkyfoods.com ) is a primary schools healthy eating programme now available nationally. Developed specifically for primary school children, the year-round curriculum-based programme helps ensure children learn fundamental life skills relating to nutrition, physical activity and food choice. Some of the country's top nutritionists and dietitians have helped develop the programme's content and it has been backed by key opinion formers involved in nutrition. From an initial roll out to 50 schools in Yorkshire, over 375 schools and LEAs nationally will be using the programme by September 2007, the PhunkyFoods programme was developed in 2005 by nutritional experts Purely Nutrition, in collaboration with founding partner Northern Foods who provided seed funding. A food industry group has now been created with additional partner support from Nestlé and Cargill/Frontier, allowing PhunkyFoods to be extended more widely across the UK.

More about The National Healthy Schools Programme (NHSP)

The National Healthy Schools Programme (NHSP), led by the Department for Education and Skills and the Department of Health provides resources and support to help schools become healthy schools. It aims to:

Ø Support children and young people in developing healthy behaviours

Ø Help raise pupil achievement

Ø Help reduce health inequalities

Ø Help promote social inclusion

The Programme's national target is that all schools are working towards becoming healthy schools by 2009. Local healthy schools programmes, grounded in local education and health partnerships, are key to supporting schools in the process of achieving and recognising national healthy school status. See: http://www.wiredforhealth.gov.uk/PDF/GuidanceforHScoordinators.doc for more details.

Posted on 16th April 2007

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