Hy-Vee Chefs in the Spotlight for Heart Health

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa, Jan. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Hy-Vee is kicking off American Heart Month in February with a special company-wide ad circular featuring nutrition information, shopping tips and heart-healthy recipes from Hy-Vee chefs.

In keeping with the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women" campaign — an effort to draw awareness to the fact that cardiovascular disease is the number-one killer of women —  Hy-Vee selected five female chefs to appear in the ad. The five are Monika Sudakov of Bettendorf, IA; Norma Reni of Independence, MO; Staci Stengel of Yankton, SD; Traci Reed of Moline, IL; and Cyd Koehn of Hy-Vee's corporate headquarters in West Des Moines. Each chef is pictured preparing a heart-healthy dish, with ingredients, cooking instructions and nutrition facts printed in a recipe card format that customers can clip and save.

Hy-Vee's 150 retail dietitians work with the in-store chefs to develop healthy recipes customers can make at home. Julie Gieseman, dietitian at the Hy-Vee store on Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines, said the collaborative effort is a unique benefit Hy-Vee can offer nutrition-conscious shoppers.

"Dietitians have a lot of knowledge about foods that can foster health, but the chefs have that special ability to take those healthy ingredients and turn them into something delicious," Gieseman said.

According to the American Heart Association, heart disease kills one in three American women — more than all forms of cancer combined. The good news is that an estimated 80 percent of cardiac events in women could be prevented through the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits. "Go Red For Women" educates women about the risk factors for heart disease and encourages them to share this information with their mothers, daughters, sisters and friends.

Sale prices in Hy-Vee's heart-healthy ad are effective through February 1. To view the ad, visit Hy-Vee's website at www.hy-vee.com and click on the "Weekly Ad" link.

Hy-Vee, Inc. is an employee-owned corporation operating 232 retail stores in eight Midwestern states. For 2010 the company recorded total sales of $6.9 billion, ranking it among the top 30 supermarket chains and the top 50 private companies in the United States. Visit the company's website at www.hy-vee.com

SOURCE Hy-Vee, Inc.