Eating Right For A Healthy Lifestyle, Weight Loss

NORTHFIELD, ILL., January 7, 2005 -- Kraft Foods, North America’s largest food company, will expand its alliance with The South Beach Diet and its creator, Arthur Agatston, M.D., by launching a broad line of new products under the South Beach Diet brand. The wide variety of products – offering delicious choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as snacking – will reach national distribution in spring 2005. The South Beach Diet line will include cereal, meal replacement and cereal bars, refrigerated sandwich wraps, frozen entrees and frozen pizza.

“My goal is to help change the way America eats, and these great-tasting, nutrient-rich products from Kraft will make it even more convenient for people to follow The South Beach Diet – whether for a healthy lifestyle or weight loss,” said Agatston. “While consumers’ interest in radical diet fads like low carb and low fat tends to rise and fall relatively quickly, their desires for new and better ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle and manage their weight still continue to grow. The South Beach Diet has long-term staying power and is clearly different – it’s a proven diet that focuses on eating the right carbs and the right fats, along with lean sources of protein, so people can enjoy many of their favorite foods while eating right.

“It has been a great revelation to me that weight loss is not about low carbs or low fat, but the right carbs and the right fats. I am also encouraged that people appear to be shifting from strict low carbohydrate diets to more balanced approaches. Now I am seeing a growing consensus among nutrition experts about the importance of the right carbs like whole grains, fruits and vegetables in the diet, as well as including unsaturated fats like olive and canola oils – all consistent with The South Beach Diet,” he said. “The real secret to The South Beach Diet is that it’s not just a diet, it’s a way to eat for life.”

The new line further builds on the choices from Kraft’s existing brands already marketed as “South Beach Diet Recommended.” Last year, the company and The South Beach Diet teamed up by promoting a variety of well-known products, including Boca Burgers, Oscar Mayer Deli Meats, Crystal Light beverages and Planters assorted nuts, as “South Beach Diet Recommended.” In the fall, more than two million Americans received the Kraft South Beach Diet Recipe Sampler, a 90-page color booklet with recipes and tips that fit easily with The South Beach Diet. A similar 16-page booklet is now available in stores, just in time for New Year’s diet and health resolutions.

“We’re pleased by the strong consumer response to the alliance and the high demand for our South Beach Diet Recipe Sampler booklet along with increased traffic to our krafthealthyliving.com website,” said Howard Brandeisky, vice president, South Beach Diet Foods, Kraft. “Our alliance with The South Beach Diet, including both our ‘South Beach Diet Recommended’ products and the new line we are launching this year, gives consumers many choices to help people manage their weight as well as eat right for a healthy lifestyle.”

For some time, Kraft has been a leader in products that help people eat and live better, offering a range of nutritious alternatives like fat-free and sugar-free products, as well as those that leverage emerging health and wellness trends. Kraft’s product portfolio provides a broad range of options for consumers to choose different products for various eating occasions.

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About Kraft
Kraft Foods markets many of the world's leading food brands, including Kraft cheese, Yuban and Maxwell House coffees, Planters nuts, Triscuit Reduced Fat crackers, Philadelphia cream cheese, Oscar Mayer meats and Post cereals in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit http://kraft.com.

About The South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet and South Beach Diet Cookbook, published by Rodale, are the best-selling health books of all time, setting records for the length of time on best-seller lists. The South Beach Diet by Dr. Arthur Agatston debuted in April of 2003 and has, to date, more than 8 million copies in print. It was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list for 38 weeks. Its successor, The South Beach Diet Good Fats/ Good Carbs Guide has more than 3 million copies after 6 printings and spent 18 weeks at #1 on the Publishers Weekly Bestseller list. Dr. Agatston’s latest book, The South Beach Diet Cookbook, printed more than 1.5 million copies in its first print run, the largest first printing for a cookbook in publishing history. For more information, visit southbeachdiet.com.

Contact:
Kathy Knuth
847-646-2666
kknuth@kraft.com

Michael Schiferl
312-988-2017
mschiferl@WeberShandwick.com