Nestle Begins Collaboration With Cleveland Clinic

GLENDALE, Calif., July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Nestle USA Chairman and CEO Brad Alford has announced that Nestle Research Center, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has donated US $500,000 to Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. The gift will fund a collaborative study focused on examining the effects of a diet rich in whole grains on body composition and energy metabolism.

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"We look forward to building our relationship with Lerner Research Institute. This collaboration combines Nestle's core expertise in nutrition with Lerner Research Institute's scientific vision, and will help us define the scientific basis for new product development. Our ultimate goal is to provide good tasting products with nutritional benefits to consumers," said Mr. Alford. This study will build on previous Nestle research that has suggested that a diet rich in whole grains has many potential nutritional benefits.

Researchers from the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne met with lead investigator John Kirwan, Ph.D., Pathobiology, of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and his team earlier this year to plan the study, which begins this month. The 26-week study will enroll 40 to 50 people, who will eat meals provided by Nestle Prepared Food Company's facility in Solon, Ohio. During the first phase, one group's diet will include most of their carbohydrates coming from whole grains while the other will receive meals with carbohydrates mainly from refined grains. During the second phase, the two groups will switch diets. Each study participant will receive complementary nutrition counseling, food and medical testing. This research will be one of the largest controlled studies of its type on whole grains and the first to use advanced body composition measurement techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that are used at the Cleveland Clinic. Scientists at Nestle Research Center will use state-of-the-art metabolomic analyses to examine changes in metabolism.

"Our Nestle colleagues in Europe have been impressed with the world class facilities and expertise found at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute," noted Alford. "We're excited to have the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Nestle Prepared Foods Company and Nestle Research Center working together on this study."

Nestle Prepared Foods Company, based in the Cleveland suburb of Solon, Ohio, is part of Nestle USA, which is owned by Nestle S.A. of Vevey, Switzerland—the world's largest food company with a focus on Nutrition, Health and Wellness. The Nestle location in Solon is home to the nation's leading frozen food brands, STOUFFER'S® and LEAN CUISINE®. Following the introduction of the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which included a recommendation to increase servings of whole grains in the American diet, Nestle introduced whole grains to LEAN CUISINE consumers through the successful launch of its SPA CUISINE™ line. Whole grains also are incorporated into the company's Denver-based LEAN POCKETS® sandwiches and into a variety of refrigerated pastas from its BUITONI® brand, also based in Solon, Ohio.

About Nestle USA

Named one of "The World's Most Admired Food Companies" in Fortune magazine for thirteen consecutive years, Nestle provides quality brands and products that bring flavor to life every day.  From nutritious meals with Lean Cuisine® to baking traditions with Nestle® Toll House®, Nestle USA makes delicious, convenient, and nutritious food and beverage products that enrich the very experience of life itself. That's what "Nestle. Good Food, Good Life" is all about. Well-known Nestle brands include: Nestle® Toll House®, Nestle® Nesquik®, Nestle® Coffee-mate®, Stouffer's®, Lean Cuisine®, HOT POCKETS® and LEAN POCKETS® brand sandwiches, Nescafe®, Nescafe® Taster's Choice®, NESTLE® Juicy Juice®, Buitoni®, DREYER'S/EDY'S®, Nestle® Crunch®, Nestle® Butterfinger®, Wonka®, DIGIORNO®, TOMBSTONE® and CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN® frozen pizza. Nestle USA, with 2009 sales of $10.4 billion, is part of Nestle S.A. in Vevey, Switzerland — the world's largest food company with a commitment to Nutrition, Health & Wellness — with 2009 sales of $99 billion.  For product news and information, visit Nestleusa.com or NestleNewsroom.com.

About Nestle Science and Research

Nestle Science & Research, encompassing the Nestle Research Center and its extensive network of external alliances, is a leading research entity in food, nutrition and life sciences. Based on Nestle's research emphasis, Nestle Science & Research builds strategic alliances with the best scientific institutions in the world to bring a full breadth of knowledge to its nutrition, health and wellness research. A diverse staff of scientists from a broad range of scientific competencies, together with external collaborators worldwide, are central to fulfilling Nestle's vision of Good Food, Good Life. Learn more at the Nestle Research Center website.

About Nestle Prepared Foods Company & Nestle Baking

Under the leadership of President and CEO Bob Leonidas, Nestle Prepared Foods Company businesses employ over 9000 people in their U.S. manufacturing facilities and headquarters sites. Over 1600 are employed in Solon, Ohio. With a focus on convenient, nutritious and delicious meals, sandwiches and snacks, Nestle Prepared Foods Company is the maker of America's most popular frozen food brands, including STOUFFER'S®, LEAN CUISINE®, HOT POCKETS® and LEAN POCKETS® brand sandwiches, and BUITONI® refrigerated pastas and sauces, also a category leader. Its Nestle Baking business includes well-known brands including NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Morsels, Baking Ingredients and Refrigerated Cookie and Brownie Dough; NESTLE CHOCOLATIER™ premium baking chocolate; NESTLE® CARNATION® Milks and LIBBY'S® Pumpkin.  

About the Lerner Research Institute

The Lerner Research Institute is home to Cleveland Clinic's laboratory, translational and clinical research. Its mission: to promote human health by investigating in the laboratory and the clinic the causes of disease and discovering novel approaches to prevention and treatments; to train the next generation of biomedical researchers; and to foster productive collaborations with those providing clinical care. The total annual research expenditure was $272 million in 2009 (including $100 million in federal funding).  More than 2,000 people (including ~200 principal investigators, 290 postdoctoral fellows, and 185 graduate students) in 11 departments work in research programs focusing on cardiovascular, cancer, neurologic, musculoskeletal, allergic and immunologic, eye, metabolic, and infectious diseases. The Institute includes more than 700,000 square feet of space. Institute faculty oversee the curriculum and teach students enrolled in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University – training the next generation of physician-scientists, and they participate in multiple doctoral programs, including a new Molecular Medicine PhD Program supported in part by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

About Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic, located in Cleveland, Ohio, is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Cleveland Clinic was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. About 2,100 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses at Cleveland Clinic represent more than 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. In addition to its main campus, Cleveland Clinic operates nine regional hospitals in Northeast Ohio, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas and Cleveland Clinic Canada. In 2009, there were more than 4.6 million visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 170,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 80 countries. Visit Cleveland Clinic at clevelandclinic.org.

SOURCE Nestle USA