Heinz Micronutrient Campaign Program Facts
- Micronutrient sachets contain a multivitamin and mineral powder, approved by the World Health Organization and UNICEF, that can be added to a child’s food by a parent or caregiver.
- Formulations may be changed to meet the nutritional needs of children in various countries.
- Micronutrient powders do not affect the taste of food due to the use of encapsulated iron, making the supplements acceptable to mothers and children.
- NurtureMate™, the Campaign’s newest product, is also a tasteless powder but it is formulated with iron lactate. The product is heat-tolerant and water-soluble so it can be added to warm foods and liquids.
- Sixty sachets per year can treat a child with anemia and other vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The total cost to provide a child with 60 sachets is $1.50.
Heinz Micronutrient Campaign
Iron deficiency is one of the most prevalent human health challenges. The World Health Organization estimates that two billion people, nearly one-third of the global population, are anemic primarily due to lack of iron. Tragically, more than three and one half million children under the age of five die each year due to malnutrition. Micronutrient deficiencies can cause blindness, stunted growth and permanent cognitive impairment. The consequence of this “hidden hunger” is a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and suffering in many developing nations.
To combat this problem, Heinz and the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation have championed the development and distribution of multiple micronutrient powders through the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign, our signature Corporate Social Responsibility Program since 2001. This groundbreaking initiative is providing an important tool to address iron-deficiency anemia and vitamin and mineral malnutrition in the developing world. Heinz was the first private sector company to support the distribution of multiple micronutrient powders to reach millions of children in developing nations with an effective, low-cost program to attack this epidemic. The Heinz Micronutrient Campaign helps contribute to the Millennium Development Goals, including eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and reducing child mortality.
The Heinz Micronutrient Campaign provides micronutrient sachets, which in addition to iron, contain several other essential vitamins and minerals, tailored to the nutritional needs of a particular population. The tasteless powder is added to a child’s food by a parent or caregiver. Through this program, a child’s micronutrient needs for a year can be met for as little as $1.50. Heinz through its partners has reached three million children living in developing countries and has plans to reach millions more in the coming years.
Micronutrient assistance delivers real economic benefits and is extremely cost-effective. Leading economists at the 2008 Copenhagen Consensus determined that eliminating micronutrient deficiencies in children offers a high rate of return – even higher than combating global warming, disease or terrorism. They determined that providing vitamin and mineral supplements to nearly 140 million children worldwide at an estimated cost of $60 million a year would return more than $1 billion annually in humanitarian benefits.
Heinz began its Micronutrient Campaign in 2001. We are currently focusing our initiatives in Indonesia, China, India and, most recently, Bangladesh and Tanzania, all countries with vast impoverished regions and high rates of micronutrient malnutrition.
Indonesia
The Campaign’s first distribution program began in Indonesia when we partnered with Helen Keller International to provide emergency relief after the devastating tsunami of 2003. At the time, this was the largest, most successful micronutrient supplement distribution in the world. The effort resulted in a joint statement by the World Food Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization on the value of micronutrients as a front-line defense in emergency situations.
China
Heinz and the Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China are in the midst of a pilot project to alleviate vitamin and mineral malnutrition in Western China that is intended to reach 500,000 rural babies and toddlers by 2010. In addition, together with the Ministry of Health, we are developing for village doctors and parents training and information on micronutrient research and development.
As we developed this program, we learned from Chinese mothers that micronutrient powder would be better received if it could be added to warm, liquid-based foods such as congee, a porridge used to wean Chinese babies. Thus, our nutritionists in China and the Chinese Ministry of Health developed NurtureMate™, a heat-resistant product with an iron-formulation that does not break down when exposed to heated foods.
India
The Heinz Micronutrient Campaign joined with Heinz India, Helen Keller International, the State of Maharashtra’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), King Edward Memorial Hospital and the Heinz Nutrition Foundation of India to complete an Anemia Surveillance Project in five districts in Maharashtra State in 2007. This large-scale study analyzed how our micronutrient sachets worked when administered to 15,000 children in a pre-school system. The results demonstrated a 34% reduction in anemia. Heinz is exploring a project scale-up that would potentially reach several million children in Maharashtra and other Indian states.
Bangladesh
The H.J. Heinz Company Foundation recently launched a partnership with the World Food Programme with a donation of $350,000 for a nutrition mapping project in Bangladesh. The purpose of this groundbreaking project is to assess the nutritional status and needs of this impoverished south Asian nation and devise a sustainable strategy for attacking the nutritional needs of various geographic and demographic populations, including the distribution of micronutrient powders.
Tanzania
In conjunction with Michigan State University and the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania, the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation is funding a micronutrient powder distribution project incorporating a study of meeting the nutrition needs of HIV positive populations. The team is using a micronutrient-fortified bean powder product that has been shown to improve the nutritional status of HIV-positive individuals.
To date, the H.J. Heinz Company Foundation has provided $5 million in cash and in-kind support to the Micronutrient Campaign and has renewed its commitment with an additional pledge of $5 million over the next five years. We are currently exploring the possibility of expanding the program in Latin America and considering more products to better meet regional and cultural needs. We plan to continue expanding our reach in targeted regions and further establish Heinz as a trusted global supporter of micronutrient distribution.
Please consider making a contribution to the Heinz Micronutrient Campaign by visiting The Pittsburgh Foundation so we can extend our efforts to provide critical vitamin and mineral supplements to at-risk children.