Michelle Obama announced Wednesday that she has co-founded a new company to produce and sell healthier food and beverages for children.
Because these products are low in sugar and high in nutrients, they pose fewer health hazards in the long run, she says.
The former First Lady work with PLEZi Nutrition is a continuation of her efforts to improve children’s nutrition when she was in the White House.
That is why today we are proud to announce the national establishment of a company designed not only to provide better products, but to launch a race to the top that will transform the entire food industry.
Obama said she is the co-founder and strategic partner of PLEZi Nutrition.
She has worked to improve state nutritional standards for school lunches, calling on food companies and chain of restaurants to cut calories, salt, sugar and trans fat in their meals.
But she said Wednesday that children are still not getting the recommended levels of nutrients and are eating and drinking an average of 53 pounds of sugar a year.
Based in the District of Columbia, PLEZi Nutrition is a non-profit corporation. This means that for-profit enterprises are founded for the greater good of the community, balancing the need for profit with the mission to help improve the nutrition of children.
Obama also announced that the company will donate her $1 million to an initiative run by FoodCorps, a nonprofit that serves all of her 50 million college students in the United States.
