SURVEY: CONSUMERS UNDERESTIMATE CANNED FOODS’ BENEFITS

While 87% of Americans agree that canned foods help make meals easier and most prepare or eat meals with canned foods at least a couple of times a month (84%), an astonishing 54% of Americans surveyed don’t realize that canned foods count toward the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines. These findings were part of a telephone survey of approximately 1,000 American men and women to better understand consumer perceptions of canned food. Click here to learn more about the survey.

 
Steel Continues to be the Most Recycled Material in North America

The Steel Recycling Institute (SRI) announced that the 2010 recycling rate for North America’s most recycled material – steel – is 88 percent. That includes good news for the recycling rate for steel cans, which increased to 67.1% in 2010 from 66.8% in 2009. View the full release and recycling rates chart here.

CFA Commends the USDA on New School
Meal Standards  

The Canned Food Alliance (CFA) commends the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) new and improved nutrition standards for school meals that will address the need for better nutrition for our nation’s school children. As a National Strategic Partner of the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the CFA supports the new guidelines that will increase the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables provided in school lunch programs. 
 
Click here to learn more about how canned foods are uniquely positioned to help make these new guidelines a reality in school cafeterias.

CFA Provides Comments on the “Approaches to Reducing Sodium Consumption” Joint Public Hearing Meeting

The Canned Food Alliance (CFA) recently provided comments to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on how canned foods can play a role in helping Americans meet the USDA dietary guidelines and play a role in efforts to reduce dietary sodium. Click here to read the CFA’s letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sebelius.

CFA Named National Strategic Partner by the USDA

The Canned Food Alliance (CFA) has been named as a National Strategic Partner by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP). National Strategic Partners support the mission of the USDA CNPP to promote the 2010 US Dietary Guidelines and MyPlate icon.

The CFA was selected as a partner because we:

• Have a health mandate consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the mission of the USDA CNPP

• Promote nutrition in the context of the entirety of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

• Will disseminate CNPP's Dietary Guidelines messages

• Will participate in CNPP sessions to develop and execute a joint strategic nutrition promotion plan annually

We're already at work promoting the new MyPlate icon with ourfact sheet and infographic, "How Canned Food Fills MyPlate," and will continue to work with the USDA to educate Americans about the nutritious, affordable and convenient ways canned food can help them maintain a healthy diet.

For more information on the CNPP's efforts, visit http://www.choosemyplate.gov/.

CFA Commends the USDA on New MyPlate Food Icon 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has unveiled its new food guide icon – MyPlate.  MyPlate encapsulates the recently released 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans in a retainable and easy-to-understand symbol showing the proper proportions of the various food groups depicted on a plate.  The Canned Food Alliance looks forward to partnering with the USDA and others to help educate Americans on how to use MyPlate to create balanced meals and how canned foods provide nutritious, affordable and convenient ways to fill their plates.