RE-CAP day 1 ICN

ICN 2009
DAY ONE – MONDAY, OCTOBER 5
SUMMARY OF EVENTS

Today, October 5, kicked off the opening ceremonies for ICN 2009, the theme of which is ‘Nutrition Security for All.’ The International Congress of Nutrition began with remarks spoken by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, a lifelong advocate of proper nutrition as the backbone for overall positive health outcomes, particularly in both children and in vulnerable populations. Following HRH’s address was Dr. Tadataka Yamada, President, Global Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle, WA, USA). Dr. Yamada spoke of the importance of public-private partnerships in successfully combating global under nutrition and world hunger in the 21st century. After Dr. Yamada, Ala Alwan, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland) continued on the path of speaking for strategic global alliances to improve nutritional status of the world’s populations, focusing on the Millennium Development Goals. After Ala Alwan’s keynote to the audience of over three thousand individuals, the exhibition room opened to the conference participants.
PepsiCo representatives from around the world, including offices in Purchase NY, Barrington IL, Dallas TX, Mexico City (MX), Delhi (India), Bangkok (Thailand), Shanghai (China) and Sydney (Australia), and from teams including Global Nutrition, Global Health Policy and the PespiCo Foundation manned the PepsiCo booth. The booth consists of four different parts, each speaking to a project in which PepsiCo is involved regarding health and wellness. One part is ‘product reformulation,’ another is ‘PepsiCo Foundation,’ another is ‘addressing malnutrition in vulnerable populations,’ and ‘promoting healthy lifestyles’ through PepsiCo Mexico’s innovative program Vive Saludable. The booth was extremely interactive, offering both information as well as some product samples and ‘prizes’ in the form of biodegradable tote bags bearing the PepsiCo logo, along with the Performance with Purpose tagline. The booth had over one thousand participants just this opening day.
We are very excited to be participating in ICN 2009. More to come tomorrow, after our PepsiCo-sponsored breakfast forum, and PepsiCo-sponsored dinner for our ‘young research fellows,’ hosted by PepsiCo Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Mehmood Khan.