SPLENDA(R) Sweetener Partners With Celebrity Chef Katie Brown to Spread the Sweetness

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Celebrity chef and expert entertainer, Katie Brown, has joined forces with McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, the marketers of SPLENDA® Sweetener, as its resident "SPLENDA® Signature Chef." Through a year-long integrated marketing campaign celebrating America's Favorite No Calorie Sweetener, the SPLENDA® Brand will collaborate with Brown to spread the word about how Americans can use SPLENDA® Sweetener Products in more ways than they ever imagined.

"With heightened public awareness around health management and calorie intake, finding new and different ways for our consumers to improve their healthy-eating habits is more important to us than ever," said Fred Tewell, Group Product Director, SPLENDA®. "We are thrilled to inaugurate Brown as our first Signature Chef as a way to develop new savory and sweet recipes – demonstrating how cooking with SPLENDA® Sweetener Products can decrease sugar intake without sacrificing the sweet taste consumers love."  

On the heels of a new advertising campaign focusing on the varied ways SPLENDA® Sweetener Products can be used, Brown will play an integral role by appearing in retail and in-store collateral, participating in sampling programs and consumer promotions and acting as a brand spokeswoman throughout 2010. An important element of the partnership will be to develop accessible recipes using the products and to encourage brand fans to utilize SPLENDA® Sweetener Products in new and different ways.  Over the course of the year, Brown will roll out 15 unique recipes – from summer pies and savory side dishes to pantry staples and regional favorites.  

"SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener has always been a part of my daily routine – I love it in my morning tea and as a replacement for sugar in my favorite recipes," said Brown. "That is why I'm thrilled to be officially partnering with the SPLENDA® Brand. We feel – with everyone spending more time in their kitchens these days – that now is the perfect time to sweeten the lives of Americans across the country by teaching them how tasty it can be to cook and bake without all the added calories of sugar!"  

Throughout the year, Brown will continue to share her professional knowledge, cooking & baking strategies, exclusive recipes and more with amateur cooks across the country. Consumers should visit www.SPLENDA.com for more information.

About Katie Brown

Brown is a culinary expert and entertaining guru, and dazzles audiences as host of "Katie Brown Workshop" on PBS. She is author to a number of food and entertaining-focused books including Katie Brown Celebrates (2008); Katie Brown's Outdoor Entertaining (2007); and Katie Brown Weekends (2006). In addition to her work as a chef and expert entertainer, Brown is the mother of two girls and currently resides in New York.

About SPLENDA® Sweetener Products

SPLENDA® Sweetener Products contain sucralose (SPLENDA® Brand Sweetener), the no-calorie sweetener that is made from sugar, tastes like sugar, but is not sugar. SPLENDA® Sweetener Products have been safely enjoyed by millions of consumers worldwide, including pregnant and nursing women, children and individuals with diabetes. SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener is the nation's #1 selling branded sweetener and can be used almost anywhere sugar is used, including cooking and baking. The complete line of products includes SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener in packet and granulated form, SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener with Fiber, SPLENDA® Sugar Blend, SPLENDA® Brown Sugar Blend, SPLENDA® Flavors for Coffee and SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener Minis.

SPLENDA® Sweetener Products are marketed by McNeil Nutritionals, LLC. For more information on SPLENDA® Sweetener Products or to obtain recipes and tips on cooking and baking with the brand, visit www.splenda.com or call 1-800-7-SPLENDA (1-800-777-5363). Or, for a sweet shopping experience, visit www.SplendidLife.com.

About McNeil Nutritionals

McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, is a global marketer of innovative nutritional products. The company's mission is to give people the ability to actively manage their own health. McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, markets SPLENDA® Sweetener Products, SUN CRYSTALS® All-Natural Sweetener, VIACTIV® Dietary Supplements, LACTAID® Milk and Dietary Supplements, BENECOL® Products and the HEALTHSIMPLE™ Brand. McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, is headquartered in Fort Washington, PA.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements are based on current expectations of future events.  If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, and/or Johnson & Johnson's expectations and projections.  Risks and uncertainties include general industry conditions and competition; economic conditions, such as interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; technological advances and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approvals; domestic and foreign health care reforms and governmental laws and regulations; and trends toward health care cost containment.  A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors can be found in Exhibit 99 of Johnson & Johnson's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2010.  Copies of this Form 10-K, as well as subsequent filings, are available online at www.sec.gov, www.jnj.com or on request from Johnson & Johnson.  Neither McNeil Nutritionals, LLC, nor Johnson & Johnson undertake to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments.

SOURCE SPLENDA(R) Sweetener Products