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THE HEINZ MICRONUTRIENT CAMPAIGN

A Foundation for Healthy Life

Micronutrient malnutrition affects more than two billion people of all ages worldwide—or roughly one-third of the world’s population. Young children in developing regions are the most susceptible, and the devastating consequences of malnutrition are both human and economic. Through the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign, the people of Heinz are committed to building a better world by tackling micronutrient malnutrition.

Supported by the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation, the Micronutrient Campaign will reach an estimated 10 million children by 2010 and secure funding to sustain local programs on a long-term basis to help all children around the world grow up strong and healthy.

To date, the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation has spent $3 million in support of the Micronutrient Campaign, and we have renewed our commitment with an additional pledge of $5 million over the next five years. The program has been recognized worldwide by numerous humanitarian organizations, including the Helen Keller International / Global Visionary Award.

Yet it only costs $1.50 to cure a child of anemia and make a positive difference for the rest of that child's lifetime. Please consider making a contribution to the Heinz Micronutrient Fund by visiting the Pittsburgh Foundation so we can continue providing life-changing vitamin and mineral supplements to at-risk children. 

The Heinz Micronutrient Campaign focuses on three key regions that we refer to by the names of children we have met in those countries: China (Project Mei Li), Indonesia (Project Mayang) and India (Project Ashok).

H.J. Heinz Company Chairman, President and CEO William R. Johnson received the inaugural Helen Keller International Global Visionary Award on behalf of Heinz employees in April 2006 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Presenting the award was three-time Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep.

Project Mayang - Helping Indonesian Children Thrive

In Indonesia, 4-year-old Mayang is just one of approximately 12 million children who are suffering from micronutrient malnutrition. To date, she and 400,000 other Indonesian children have benefited from the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign, making Project Mayang our most successful program. United by the common goal of combating micronutrient malnutrition globally, the H. J. Heinz Company, its Foundation, and Helen Keller International joined forces in 2003 to address micronutrient malnutrition in Indonesia. Heinz employees assisted in developing the program by creating a new formulation tailored to the needs of Indonesian children, called Vitalita™, maintaining quality control, and ensuring UNICEF certification of the production facility.

The H.J. Heinz Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided funding support to Helen Keller International, which conducted efficacy and effectiveness studies, and monitored and evaluated the program. Helen Keller International also trained public health workers to administer more than 44 million sachets of Vitalita™ to Mayang and thousands of other children in communities such as Aceh, Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Sukabumi.

Our post-tsunami micronutrient distribution initiative in Indonesia was the largest and most successful supplement distribution in the world. It resulted in a joint statement by the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and the World Health Organization on the value of micronutrient supplements in emergency situations.

Project Mei Li - A Partnership for the Children of China

According to the World Health Organization, micronutrient malnutrition is estimated to affect 57% of the people in South and East Asia. Of the 1.3 billion people in China, 83 million are children, age 4 or younger. That's why the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign team has designated China as a priority area of need and is partnering with the Chinese government and non-governmental organizations to address this problem. Because Chinese children, like 5-year-old Mei Li, are typically weaned on warm, liquid-based foods such as congee, Heinz nutritionists in China have developed Nurture Mate™, a heat-resistant and water-soluble micronutrient product. Mei Li's mother will be able to add Nurture Mate to the foods she normally feeds her daughter.

Heinz will work directly with the Chinese Ministry of Health, which initially sought out Heinz to assist with its battle against micronutrient malnutrition, and the National Center for Women and Children's Health of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Beijing, which is leading the testing of Nurture Mate's efficacy and effectiveness in China. The members of this public-private partnership share a common vision–the elimination of micronutrient malnutrition among children in China.

Project Ashok - Improving the Health and Lives of Children in India

In India, a nation of more than 1.1 billion people, the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign team is undertaking an ambitious multi-site Anemia Surveillance Project in several districts in Maharashtra State: Pune, Vadu, Indapur, Junnar and Karjat. The Anemia Surveillance Project began in August 2007, and will involve more than 18,000 children, including 2-year-old Ashok. In Maharashtra, it is hoped that up to 6.5 million children in 65,000 centers will eventually benefit from the work done through the combined efforts of Heinz, Helen Keller International, the State’s Integrated Child Development Services, King Edward Memorial Hospital, and other local partners, including the scientific advisors of the Heinz Nutrition Foundation of India.

In addition to providing quality assurance guidelines for the production of Sprinkles micronutrients in India, we are grateful to the employees of Heinz India who have been instrumental in linking the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign team with local government officials and non-governmental organizations, partners whose cooperation and controlled distribution of micronutrients is essential to ensure the success of Project Ashok and to sustain long-term programs aimed at eradicating the scourge of micronutrient malnutrition.

Heinz India also has coordinated production with suppliers for the majority of the micronutrient Sprinkles that have been distributed worldwide to countries such as Bolivia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Honduras, Kenya, Mongolia and Tanzania. In 2006, UNICEF designated Heinz India as one of its two official partners in the distribution of micronutrient sachets.