April 13, 2023
Planning and preparing nutritionally balanced meals are important steps in managing blood sugar for those who have diabetes. To support people managing blood sugar levels, Nestlé has developed a line of tasty, nutritious Lean Cuisine Balance Bowls.
The meals meet the American Diabetes Association® (ADA) Better Choices for Life Programme frozen entrée nutrition guidelines. Lean Cuisine is the first brand to participate in the program with full meal offerings.
“Our culinary team worked alongside nutritionists and members of the ADA to ensure that our meals are crafted with filling flavors and well-balanced ingredients that help consumers achieve their personal nutritional goals,” says Kat Amrhein, Lean Cuisine Brand Manager. “Each frozen entrée contains 400 calories or less, a serving of vegetables, and zero grams of added sugar.”
A good source of protein and fiber, the Balance Bowls come in four delicious and nutritious varieties: Tex-Mex Rice and Black Beans; Lemon Garlic Shrimp Stir-Fry; Roasted Eggplant Parmesan Pasta; and Creamy Pasta Primavera. The meals carry the ADA Better Choices for Life logo on-pack, making it easy for consumers to find them in-store.
Jennifer Paine, Head of Nestlé’s R&D unit for food in Solon, Ohio says: “We used a test and learn approach to develop these great-tasting meals that make it easy for people managing blood sugar levels to enjoy a nutritionally balanced diet. After a successful pilot through our U.S. R+D Accelerator, we are excited to launch the meals on a much wider scale under the Lean Cuisine brand.”
As part of the R+D Accelerator initiative, the original recipes went from idea to shop in only six months. The Accelerator team worked with various Nestlé’s experts including nutritionists, chefs, product developers and regulatory scientists to develop the meals. After a limited-edition launch in 2022, Nestlé teams further improved the recipes and created new varieties, which will now launch nationwide in select U.S. retailers starting in April 2023.
Nestlé’s aims to provide nutritional products and services tailored to people with specific dietary needs as part of a balanced diet. In Malaysia, Nestlé launched Nutren GlucoSmart, a novel food supplement containing Reducose®, a mulberry leaf extract that is clinically proven to lower blood glucose spikes. To compliment the launch of Nutren GlucoSmart, Nestlé scientists developed a digital platform that enables the assessment of diabetes risks and provides tailored recommendations for prediabetes-friendly meal plans. As a follow up, Nestlé launched TangLv, a powdered milk beverage also containing Reducose® to support healthy aging, under the YiYang brand in China.
In India, Nestlé provides a range of tasty, nutritious, diabetic-friendly recipes based on MyMenu IQ™, a scientifically validated nutritional service that ranks the nutritional balance of meals on a scale from zero to 100.
Nestlé also partnered with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation to launch Gut-Friendly Recipes, a comprehensive free digital tool that uses machine-learning algorithms and nutrition data to generate personalized meal plans for people with chronic digestive issues, or anyone seeking nutritious gut-friendly meals.
Lean Cuisine® Introduces New Products as part of the American Diabetes Association’s Better Choices for Life Programme.
The Balance Bowl options will carry the on-pack ADA Better Choices for Life mark levels.
Nestlé SOLON, Ohio, April 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Lean Cuisine is proud to introduce four new Balance Bowls entrées that meet the nutrition guidelines of the Better Choices for Life program from the American Diabetes Association® (ADA). Lean Cuisine is the first company to participate in the program with full meal offerings and the first to meet the ADA’s frozen entrée nutrition guidelines.
Our culinary team worked alongside nutritionists and members of the ADA to ensure that our meals are crafted with filling flavors and well-balanced ingredients that help consumers achieve their personal nutritional goals,” says Marketing Manager Kat Amrhein. “Each frozen entrée contains 400 calories or less, a serving of vegetables, and zero grams of added sugar.”
The new Lean Cuisine Balance Bowls come in four delicious and nutritious varieties, including:
- Tex-Mex Rice & Black Beans
- Whole grain brown rice, black beans, corn, and peppers in a spicy enchilada sauce.
- Lemon Garlic Shrimp Stir-Fry
- Red peppers, carrots, and broccoli over brown rice.
- Roasted Eggplant Parmesan Pasta
- Whole grain pasta in a tomato basil sauce.
- Creamy Pasta Primavera
- Broccoli florets, tomato, spinach, and whole grain pasta in a creamy lemon basil parmesan sauce.
All four varieties of the new Lean Cuisine Balance Bowls will be available at select retailers nationwide beginning this month with an MSRP of $4.49 (prices may vary by store).
Heart-Healthy Meals
As part of our commitment to wellness, Lean Cuisine also offers four meal options that meet the criteria of the American Heart Association® (AHA) for heart-healthy meals. Through the AHA’s Heart-Check Food Certification program, shoppers can look for the iconic red-and-white Heart-Check seal to help identify heart-healthy foods in every aisle. Lean Cuisine AHA-certified meals are currently available at select retailers nationwide for an MSRP of USD 3.99 (prices may vary by store).
To learn more, please visit LeanCuisine.com and follow @LeanCuisine on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
About the American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is the nation’s leading voluntary health organization fighting to bend the curve on the diabetes epidemic and help people living with diabetes thrive. For 82 years, the ADA has driven discovery and research to treat, manage, and prevent diabetes while working relentlessly for a cure. Through advocacy, program development, and education we aim to improve the quality of life for the over 133 million Americans living with diabetes or prediabetes. Diabetes has brought us together. What we do next will make us Connected for Life®. To learn more or to get involved, visit us at diabetes.org or call 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383). Join the fight with us on Facebook (American Diabetes Association), Spanish Facebook (Asociación Americana de la Diabetes), LinkedIn (American Diabetes Association), Twitter (@AmDiabetesAssn), and Instagram (@AmDiabetesAssn).
SOURCE Lean Cuisine