Cargill To Focus on Healthy Ingredients, Expands Polyol Facilities

Cargill To Focus on Healthy Ingredients, Expands Polyol Facilities

MINNEAPOLIS--Cargill (www.cargill.com) said it will accelerate its development of new health-promoting ingredients and ingredient systems to help food and beverage manufacturers develop consumer products aligned with the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS).

"The 2005 Guidelines echo Cargill's approach to nutrition and wellness, which is based on balance, choice and responsibility," said Robert Parmelee, president of Cargill Food System Design. "Cargill recognizes that a healthy lifestyle requires a balance of sound dietary choices and proportional physical activity. The new guidelines are a key educational tool to promote health and reduce the risk of chronic disease, and its messages promote balance, choice and responsibility."

In other company news, Cargill and Cerestar Food & Pharma Specialties have expanded their polyol manufacturing facilities in Blair, Neb.; Krefeld, Germany; and Castelmassa, Italy.

"We've invested over $100 million in our polyol expansion projects around the world during the past year," said R. Creager Simpson, president of Cargill Food & Pharma Specialties, North America.

The Blair, Neb., plant expansion provides the company with its first North Ameriacn polyol hydrogenation and finishing capacity. The Krefeld, Germany, and Casselmassa, Italy, expansions provide new hydrogenation and finishing capacity for maltitol, mannitol and isomalt.

Simpson added the company's specialty polyols will help Americans meet the government's new dietary guidelines.