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Nestlé Breakfast Cereals supports to International Whole Grain Day

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Dubai, UAE
whole day grain

Nestlé Breakfast Cereals, announced its support to the International Whole Grain Day which aims to highlight the positive impact of whole grain on nutrition, health, wellbeing, and sustainability. The event held at the European Parliament in Brussels, has announced the first-ever International World Whole Grain Day launched today- 19th of November.

This initiative is calling governments to prioritise whole grain in their national dietary guidelines and to help populations to increase their whole grain intakes worldwide for healthier lives and a healthier planet. The event will look at how policymakers encourage more people to introduce whole grain into their diet.

“We passionately believe in the power of whole grains. Studies show that people who regularly eat whole grains reduce their risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.” Said Olivier Degiorgis, Business Executive Officer, Nestlé Breakfast Cereals in the Middle East.

“In Middle East, we have always supported wholegrain from the start. We have consistently increased wholegrain content in our cereals since 2008 and we are committed to ensuring wholegrain is our number 1 ingredient. Our most recent reformulation has resulted in a 60% wholegrain increase while reducing sugar by 30%.” Added Degiorgis.

Despite the benefits, only a few countries such as the USA, Netherlands and Denmark – have a quantitative recommendation for whole grain. The USA recommends a minimum of three servings per day (equating to at least 48g). In a comment piece in the medical journal Lancet, Prof Gary Frost from Imperial College London said the analysis “provides compelling evidence that dietary fibre and whole grain are major determinants of numerous health outcomes and should form part of public health policy”.

A recent survey done in KSA and UAE by Nestlé Breakfast Cereals shows that 86% of people in both countries do not know how many grams of whole grain they should be eating a day. For example, the 50% of people surveyed in Saudi Arabia think they don’t understand the benefit of wholegrain while 39% surveyed in UAE don’t know which foods they can find it in.

Commenting on how you can consume more wholegrain in your daily diet, Sarah Kanaan, Nutrition, Health & Wellness Manager at Nestlé Middle East said that opting for wholegrain breakfast cereals, choosing wholegrain bread instead of white bread and switching to wholegrain rice and pasta can help consumers significantly increase their wholegrain intake.

The survey was commissioned by Cereal Partners Worldwide (CPW) and conducted online by independent research company Censuswide in October, 2017.

For more information on whole grain, visit the Wholegrain initiative page http://www.wholegraininitiative.org/en/1862-activities

About the Whole Grain Initative

The Whole Grain Initiative brings together key stakeholders from around the world, including NGOs, academics and associations that are concerned on whole grain, nutrition and health. On 19th November 2019, they are organizing a launch event entitled “Take Whole grain Seriously! Make your grains whole: for your and the planet’s health”, co-hosted by MEP Katainen (FI, Vice-Chair AGRI Committee). The event will run from 15:00 to 17:00, at the European Parliament in Brussels. Click here for more information on the agenda.(agenda will be finalized and published under www.wholegraininitiative.org soon)

About Nestlé Middle East

Nestlé Middle East’s heritage goes back over 80 years to 1934 when the first import operation was set up in Lebanon.Today, Nestlé Middle East owns and operates 18 factories and provides direct employment to more than 13,000 employees who are all committed to Nestlé’s purpose of enhancing the quality of life and contributing to a healthier future. It also provides indirect employment to several thousand more.

The Nestlé portfolio in the region currently exceeds 60 innovative product brands in a wide range of categories: dairy products and infant nutrition, bottled water, chocolate and confectionery, coffee creamers, breakfast cereals, culinary products, health science, skin health, and Pet Care, among others. Nestlé Nido, Nestlé NAN, S-26, Progress, Maggi, Nescafé, Kit Kat, Coffeemate, Nestlé Cerelac, Nestlé Fitness, Nestlé Pure Life, Nespresso, Optifast and Cetaphil are just some of the brands available in the Middle East.

For more on Nestlé Middle East activities, you can visit the following social media pages:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NestleMiddleeastNorthafrica
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NestleMe
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nestlemena 
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/NestleMiddleEast
Website: www.nestle-me.com
Nestlé in Society report: www.nestle-me.com/en/csv

For more information, please contact:

Layal Dalal
Media Relations Manager
Nestlé Middle East
Email: [email protected]