Kashi Continues to ‘Stand Up For Real Food’

Kashi, has launched the Kashi Ingredient Decoder, the natural food brand’s latest tool in its growing resource portfolio created to encourage healthy living. With the aim of helping people better understand what makes up the food they eat, the online decoder takes the mystery out of puzzling ingredients to enable users to make more informed food choices. The online tool is part of La Jolla, Calif.-based Kashi’s longstanding commitment to using ingredients that are as close to nature as possible.

“For more than 25 years, we have been dedicated to creating delicious, real foods that provide a unique eating experience of colors, textures and tastes,” explained Keegan Sheridan, natural food and lifestyle expert at Kashi, a brand of the Battle Creek, Mich.-based Kellogg Co. “We want to remind people that we remain committed to this work by not only continuing to provide great-tasting, all-natural foods aligned with our seven whole grain nutrition values, but also by developing new educational tools that help them understand what’s behind their food choices and how they can incorporate more natural practices into their everyday lives.”

The decoder, available at www.kashi.com/realfood, joins three more online resources recently introduced by Kashi to educate consumers on natural lifestyles. The 7 Whole Grains on a Mission platform provides information about the brand’s signature seven grains, including their nutritional and taste properties, in addition to a sourcing map that shows where the whole grains actually come from. This resource will soon expand to include profiles on specific farmers who supply these grains for Kashi products, providing more detail on how foods move from farm to fork. The brand also Natural Nearby, a community database allowing visitors to search for local resources that support a healthy, natural lifestyle, among them retail stores, health clubs, recreational sites and farmers’ markets. Further, an extensive natural learning library on the site offers easy access to hundreds of articles, videos and reference tools on a broad assortment of natural lifestyle topics.

The online tools are key components of the company’s larger "Stand Up for Real Food" initiative, which aims to educate and raise awareness of natural foods and ingredients among farmers, manufacturers, retailers and the public. The initiative encompasses leading-edge nutrition, minimal food processing, and overall enjoyment of “real food.”

“Today, people have a growing desire to become more educated and learn about where their food comes from,” adds Sheridan. “By developing and expanding our online platforms and preparing for a 2011 nationwide natural lifestyle tour, we hope to inspire people to join us in standing up for real food, good health and the power of whole grain nutrition.”