WASHINGTON, DC April 4, 2000 -- Kellogg Company announced today that it will be the nation's first leading food manufacturer to communicate on many of its adult targeted cereals that "adequate intakes of folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12 may promote a healthy cardiovascular system."

"We are pleased to launch the first major application of the Food and Drug Administration's new regulations concerning structure/function claims on packaged foods," said Guy H. Johnson, Ph.D., vice president, nutrition, Kellogg USA.

The FDA regulations, issued in January, differentiate structure-function claims from health claims. Under the new regulations, structure-function claims, "describe the effect of a nutrient or dietary ingredient on the normal structure or function of the body."

The claim is based on a comprehensive assessment of the scientific evidence by experts in a variety of nutrition and public health sectors, including an international panel of leading vascular researchers. "Thirty years of accumulated research suggest that adequate intakes of folic acid, vitamin B6 and B12 may help promote a healthy heart," said Eric Rimm, Ph.D., associate professor of epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health.

Consumers can identify the newly fortified Kellogg's(R) cereals by looking on the front panel of the box for a red star with a blue banner that says, "Good News for Your Heart -- 100% Daily Value Folic Acid, B6, B12" or by reading the nutrition facts panel. Additional information on the three B-vitamin's link to heart health will appear prominently on select cereal boxes.

The Kellogg's® cereals specially formulated for the structure-function claim are: Special K®, Special K Plus®, Product 19®, Smart Start®, Complete® Wheat Bran Flakes, Complete® Oat Bran Flakes, Crispix®, All-Bran®, All-Bran® Extra Fiber, All-Bran® Bran Buds®, Just Right®, Healthy Choice ® Low Fat Granola, Health
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Contact: Meghan Parkhurst, M.S., R.D., Kellogg
616-961-3989
Porter Novelli
3-Apr-2000