CAG ConAgra Brands Inc

MyPyramid U.S. Food Guide & New Meals, Snacks Offer Consumers Simple, Sensible Solutions to Eat Well Without Sacrificing Taste, Convenience; see more at www.parade.com & www.conagrafoods.com/parade PARADE magazine's annual snapshot of "What America Eats," commissioned in partnership with ConAgra Foods, Inc., finds that Americans are constantly exploring new meal options, most saying they want to eat more nutritious foods. At the same time, while most Americans have heard of the Dietary Guidelines and Food Pyramid, 60 percent admit they don't really follow the guidelines, and only a quarter know that these important U.S. food recommendations underwent significant revision last January. PARADE's latest survey of 2,088 Americans underscores the idea that many are earnest in trying to improve their eating habits--44 percent say they are cutting sweets and 36 percent say they consume smaller portions--but most Americans need help in recognizing the new U.S. Food Guide recommendations and in learning how easily they can be incorporated into people's lives. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines, updated every five years, and the new MyPyramid Consumer Food Guide announced in March, serve as the cornerstones of federal nutrition policy and national nutrition education activities. "For the past 18 years, PARADE has asked Americans about the choices they make when it comes to food and nutrition, and the annual findings provide an excellent glimpse of America's tastes and eating habits," says Fran Carpentier, the magazine's senior editor overseeing the annual "What America Eats" issue. "One real constant over the years is that America's eating habits continue to change with our changing needs, tastes and lifestyles. This year's survey is especially important," she says, "coming after release of the 2005 Dietary Guidelines and new MyPyramid, which offer excellent roadmaps to help manage changing diets. But so far, too few people are taking advantage of them to realize their full potential for changing what America eats for the better." In the PARADE survey, an overwhelming majority of respondents said that taste is a very important factor influencing their purchasing decisions, followed by price, convenience, ease of preparation, brand name and ability to meet the individualized mealtime needs of the whole family. But while many consumers struggle to find flavorful, convenient food that is also nutritious, eating right is easier today than most people realize. Food companies such as ConAgra Foods, one of North America's leading packaged foods companies, are focusing on delivering meals and snacks that are great-tasting, convenient and good for you. "ConAgra Foods has a wide range of products to meet the ever-changing needs and demands for what America eats,' says Debbie Carosella, vice president, Strategic Marketing, Retail Products, ConAgra Foods. "Consumers today shouldn't have to sacrifice taste and convenience. We're offering a variety of great-tasting meals and snacks that provide simple, sensible and satisfying solutions to help Americans eat well." Popcorn, for instance, ranks as one of America's favorite snacks according to the PARADE survey, a very close second to fruit. Fully 74 percent of Americans prefer popcorn as a snack over ice cream, cookies, nuts and potato chips. ConAgra Foods' Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop!(R) line is a perfect match for all of those popcorn lovers. The whole line is 94 percent fat free, contains zero grams trans fat, is low in calories and is a whole grain. One mini-bag of the new Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop! Kettle Corn contains the equivalent of two servings of whole grains per bag, two thirds of the new daily amount recommended by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. The survey finds nearly half of Americans (44 percent) bring their lunch from home - facing the daily challenge of finding something easy to prepare, tasty and good for them. ConAgra Foods' new Healthy Choice(R) soups now come in microwaveable bowls that are easy to enjoy at work and provide a good source of nutrition. For breakfast, the survey shows 30 percent choose eggs on weekdays and 61 percent have them on weekends. As a healthful alternative, Egg Beaters(R) from ConAgra Foods have all the protein of shell eggs without all the fat, cholesterol and calories. This is the second year in a row that ConAgra Foods has partnered with PARADE on its annual survey, which provides one of the most complete looks at eating habits and trends among American consumers. Among other subjects, it explores dieting, food preferences and myriad other related subjects, including who Americans would like to sit next to at dinner (Oprah Winfrey leads the list with 19 percent of those surveyed). Parade Magazine PARADE, the nation's largest-circulation magazine with 36 million copies printed a week, is the leader in the Sunday newspaper magazine field. For more than 60 years, PARADE has informed, entertained and inspired its readers with award-winning editorial. PARADE is distributed via a network of more than 340 of the nation's finest newspapers. About ConAgra Foods ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE:CAG) based in Omaha, Neb., is one of North America's largest packaged food companies, serving consumer grocery retailers, as well as restaurants and other foodservice establishments. Popular ConAgra Foods consumer brands include: ACT II, Armour, Banquet, Blue Bonnet, Brown 'N Serve, Butterball, Chef Boyardee, Cook's, Crunch 'n Munch, DAVID, Eckrich, Egg Beaters, Fleischmann's, Gulden's, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Kid Cuisine, Knott's Berry Farm, La Choy, Lamb Weston, Libby's, Lightlife, Louis Kemp, Lunch Makers, MaMa Rosa's, Manwich, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM, Parkay, Pemmican, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip, Rosarita, Ro*Tel, Slim Jim, Snack Pack, Swiss Miss, Van Camp's, Wesson, Wolf and many others. For more information, visit www.conagrafoods.com.