Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Announces Future Fortified Campaign

Through the Future Fortified campaign and with an initial, joint commitment from Herbalife and DSM, GAIN will help ensure that pregnant women, new mothers and their young children receive the critical nutrients they need.

Sep 22 2011 --- The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is announcing a new campaign, Future Fortified, to help millions of women and children around the world access the essential nutrients they need to lead healthy, enriched lives. The global nutrition campaign was unveiled during the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York City.

Through the Future Fortified campaign and with an initial, joint commitment from Herbalife and DSM, GAIN will help ensure that pregnant women, new mothers and their young children receive the critical nutrients they need (such as vitamin A, iodine, iron, zinc and folic acid) for healthy pregnancies and optimal growth and development.

“Investments in improved nutrition for women and children during the 1,000-day period from pregnancy to two years are critical, as nutrition is the basic building block for the success of many health and development interventions,” stated Marc Van Ameringen, GAIN’s executive director. “As we kick off the Future Fortified campaign, we are eager to engage individuals, businesses and organizations to prevent malnutrition around the world, particularly for the most vulnerable populations of women and children.”

Herbalife, a global nutrition company, and DSM, a leading producer of vitamins and a broad range of nutritional ingredients, have provided the first commitment to GAIN’s Future Fortified campaign with a contribution of 20 million micronutrient powder MixMe packets. These cost-effective nutrition packets will provide the essential vitamins and minerals for mothers to improve their children’s diets by adding vital nutrients to meals prepared at home.

In response to the current crisis in the Horn of Africa, where over 12 million people are at risk of disease and widespread malnutrition due to drought, escalating food prices and conflict, DSM and Herbalife’s joint contribution will be distributed in Ethiopia and Kenya to enhance food assistance and fill basic nutritional gaps.

"The acute nutritional needs brought on by the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Horn of Africa will now be aided by the Herbalife family of distributors and employees who are committed to improving the nutritional habits for people around the world," stated Michael O. Johnson, Herbalife’s chairman and CEO. “We are honored to be working in partnership with GAIN and DSM to both address the immediate nutrient needs of hundreds of thousands of women and children, while simultaneously exploring long term, sustainable approaches to address the underlying causes of malnutrition in the region.”

An estimated two billion people around the world lack access to the nutrients they need for proper physical and cognitive development. Poor nutrition in mothers and children is the underlying factor of over 35% of all childhood deaths each year. Through Future Fortified, GAIN seeks to assist 50 million women and children gain access to affordable and improved nutrition through innovative approaches such as home nutrition packets.

“DSM is committed to help alleviate micronutrient deficiencies around the world, especially among those women and children most in need,” stated DSM’s Managing Board Member, Stephan Tanda. “Working in partnership with GAIN and Herbalife through the Future Fortified campaign, we will help address today’s crisis and highlight to policy makers and the public at large the importance of nutrition for the sustainable development of healthy and productive societies.”

GAIN’s Future Fortified campaign will make it easy for individuals and organizations to get involved in the global effort to improve nutrition by informing their networks of global nutrition challenges and solutions, investing in sustainable solutions and influencing policy makers to make improved nutrition a global development priority.

GAIN, DSM and Herbalife have formalized a partnership around GAIN’s new Future Fortified campaign, which seeks to raise public and political will for nutrition as well as help millions of women and children around the world access essential nutrients. In response to the crisis in the Horn of Africa, where over 12 million people are at risk of disease and widespread malnutrition due to drought, escalating food prices and conflict, DSM and Herbalife have made an initial joint commitment of 20 million micronutrient powder (MixMe) sachets. These cost-effective nutrition packets will be distributed in Ethiopia and Kenya to enhance food assistance and fill basic nutritional gaps. As a second stage of this partnership, we will develop long term, market based business models utilizing the strengths of each partner to ensure that nutritious, affordable products remain accessible to vulnerable populations on a daily basis.