Hackensack Meridian Health is announcing Thursday morning that it is growing its relationship with PLEZi Nutrition, the company co-founded by former First Lady Michelle Obama that is on a mission to create higher standards for how the U.S. makes and markets food and beverages for kids.
HMH, always a trend-setter, is becoming the first health system in the country to do so.
The reason is simple: The first PLEZi Nutrition product HMH introduced – the company’s fruit drink offering – has been amazingly well received during a six-month trial program at the system’s flagship hospital, Hackensack University Medical Center.
After offering (not forcing) the PLEZi juice on patients and team members, enough responded that the system was able to remove 1.8 million calories and 1,000 pounds of sugar intake.
Hackensack CEO Bob Garrett said the response was so great that the system is eager to introduce the product as an option at other HMH facilities by the end of the year.
“We are excited to be the first health system in the country to offer PLEZi to our patients and team members,” Garrett said. “PLEZi is a delicious and healthy beverage that aligns with our commitment to providing our patients with healthy choices that reduce sugar and calories and improve health outcomes.”
The idea started with HMH’s Black Team Member Resource Group, a network wide voluntary group of Black team members and allies who are devoted to addressing health equity. The group saw PLEZi and thought it would be a good way to help team members and patients make healthier choices.
PLEZi is a fruit drink with 75% less sugar (5g per 6.75 oz) than average leading fruit juices (21g per 6.75 oz), no added sugar, plus 2g of fiber and nutrients like vitamin C. It comes in four flavors: Tropical Punch, Blueberry Blast, Apple Splash and Orange Smash.
This alliance comes at a pivotal moment.
The U.S. is in a nutrition-related health crisis, especially among kids, who are consuming – on average – 53 pounds of added sugar per year. Sugar-sweetened beverages are the leading source of added sugar, with approximately two-thirds of youth consuming sugary drinks on a given day, according to research.
PLEZi Nutrition officials say they are offering products that not only have reduced sugar (and added nutrients), but ones that kids like.
The former first lady said that has long been the goal.
“I’ve dedicated so much of my life to helping kids and families lead healthier lives. As First Lady, I worked to rally every sector of society toward this goal,” she said.
“While I’m proud of all we accomplished during those years at the White House, I’ve also learned that to truly push the food and beverage industry to do better by our kids, you have to work from the inside. I’m thrilled to build on those efforts through PLEZi Nutrition as we work to drive change throughout the entire food and beverage industry.”
For HMH, offering PLEZi is just another example of the steps it is taking to create healthier options for its patients and staff, including:
- Becoming the largest health system in the nation to join the Cool Food Pledge, founded by the World Resources Institute, to help organizations reduce their climate impact by promoting more plant-based foods.
- Working to reduce meat consumption by more than 21% at hospitals across the system.
- Introducing a “less meat, better meat” initiative that has helped reduce its total food-related emissions by over 40%, making it one of the leading organizations in overall reductions.
- Launching an antibiotic-free foods initiative in 2018. Today, more than 57% of the health system’s meat purchases are antibiotic-free.
Garrett said the efforts are all part of HMH’s goal of transforming health care, noting that the HMH is dedicated to promoting responsible consumption and healthier lifestyles by offering locally sourced foods, sustainably sourced seafood and plant-forward menus.
