World's Largest Salad Created to Boost National '5 a Day' Week; 3,000 Pound Caesar Salad Goes for the Gold of World Records

    SACRAMENTO, Calif., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A record of "Olympian"
 proportions was established today and crowds ate it up.
     Fresh Express, the creator of retail packaged salads, and Raley's, one of
 the nation's leading supermarket chains, today put together the ingredients to
 set a new world record and strike a blow for good nutrition by building a
 fresh Caesar Salad weighing in at nearly 3,000 pounds and using almost 16-
 hundred heads of romaine lettuce.
     The two companies teamed up together to set a Guinness Book of World
 Records and to raise awareness for National "5 A Day" Week by underscoring the
 importance of eating five servings of fruit, vegetables -- and salad -- every
 day for better health.  The National "5 A Day" campaign is the oldest
 public/private partnership in the nation and the only initiative promoting all
 produce.
     Filling the specially built 430 cubic foot wooden bowl measuring 16 feet
 in diameter and four feet deep, the gargantuan salad used over 800 of cloves
 of elephant garlic, almost 900 wedges of cheese and 30 "croutons" the size of
 loaves of bread baked especially for the occasion in the Raley's bakery.  In
 addition, finishing touches were added to the salad using one-of-a-kind salad
 tongs measuring over four feet in length.
     Following a ceremony that included the meticulous measurement required to
 stake their claim to the gold medal of salads, Fresh Express and Raley's
 treated delighted local crowds to tasty samples of the Fresh Express Caesar
 Salad with Light Dressing.
     In addition, the companies donated over 1,000 pounds of fresh salad to
 Food for Families, a community-based food bank with the mission to provide
 food for families in need.
     "We want to promote better health by urging Americans to eat more fruits
 and vegetables -- that's the goal of our National 5 A Day Week and our
 'Olympian' sized salad," said "5 A Day" spokeswoman Sue Forrester.  "We
 believe that the risks of chronic disease and cancer can be lowered with a
 healthier diet and exercise," she said.
     Fresh Express products range from traditional lettuces, to fancy greens,
 to full meal kits that include salad dressings and other condiments.  Fresh
 Express delivers great-tasting ready-to-eat salads to consumers with
 unparalleled freshness and convenience.  Fresh Express makes salads so
 consumers don't have to.
     Cosponsored by Raley's, the supermarkets recently rated the best in
 America after a nationwide survey of shoppers, by the nation's leading
 consumer magazine.  One of our Raley's departments rated highest was fresh
 produce.  We sell produce items with no detected pesticide residues,
 NutriClean Certified, and we offer a good selection of organic produce items,
 too.  See for yourself why Raley's is rated the best supermarkets in America.
     Photos available electronically upon request.
 
 

SOURCE  Fresh Express