Jul 23 2010 --- Nestlé USA Chairman and CEO Brad Alford has announced that Nestle Research Center, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has donated US $500,000 to Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute. The gift will fund a collaborative study focused on examining the effects of a diet rich in whole grains on body composition and energy metabolism.

“We look forward to building our relationship with Lerner Research Institute. This collaboration combines Nestle’s core expertise in nutrition with Lerner Research Institute’s scientific vision, and will help us define the scientific basis for new product development. Our ultimate goal is to provide good tasting products with nutritional benefits to consumers,” said Mr. Alford. This study will build on previous Nestlé research that has suggested that a diet rich in whole grains has many potential nutritional benefits.

Researchers from the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne met with lead investigator John Kirwan, Ph.D., Pathobiology, of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and his team earlier this year to plan the study, which begins this month. The 26-week study will enroll 40 to 50 people, who will eat meals provided by Nestle Prepared Food Company’s facility in Solon, Ohio. During the first phase, one group’s diet will include most of their carbohydrates coming from whole grains while the other will receive meals with carbohydrates mainly from refined grains. During the second phase, the two groups will switch diets. Each study participant will receive complementary nutrition counseling, food and medical testing. This research will be one of the largest controlled studies of its type on whole grains and the first to use advanced body composition measurement techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that are used at the Cleveland Clinic. Scientists at Nestlé Research Center will use state-of-the-art metabolomic analyses to examine changes in metabolism.

“Our Nestlé colleagues in Europe have been impressed with the world class facilities and expertise found at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute,” noted Alford. “We’re excited to have the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Nestlé Prepared Foods Company and Nestlé Research Center working together on this study.”

Nestlé Prepared Foods Company, based in the Cleveland suburb of Solon, Ohio, is part of Nestlé USA, which is owned by Nestlé S.A. of Vevey, Switzerland—the world’s largest food company with a focus on Nutrition, Health and Wellness. The Nestlé location in Solon is home to the nation’s leading frozen food brands, STOUFFER’S and LEAN CUISINE. Following the introduction of the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which included a recommendation to increase servings of whole grains in the American diet, Nestlé introduced whole grains to LEAN CUISINE consumers through the successful launch of its SPA CUISINE line. Whole grains also are incorporated into the company’s Denver-based LEAN POCKETS sandwiches and into a variety of refrigerated pastas from its BUITONI brand, also based in Solon, Ohio.