Tomato Products Wellness Council

Programs: Advertising and creative creation: blog posts, graphic design, video production, contest creation (software), and prizes were created throughout the year for posting on tpwc social media channels. Created new food and recipe videos showcasing tomato products. New materials included: tomato sauce comparison; processed tomatoes sustainability information; bpa report on processed tomatoes, regular blogs on health, cooking, and other topics were developed and promoted over social media; including november prostate cancer and men's health topics.

conducted an entire audit of the nutrition care manual ncm to find all outdated references, and revised three parts of the ncm to reflect the "all forms count" message on vegetables, including tomatoes. This manual is the primary reference for hospitals that have consequently been advising patients to avoid processed tomato products when they were checking out of hospitals. Edits were completed in august 2017.

monitored industry and nutrition news. Developed and implemented communications strategies including news releases, newsletters, statements and presentations. Addressed public misinformation about the need to limit processed tomato consumption, such as the hospital dietary guidelines. A noteworthy example was the bpa article in consumer reports that named canned tomatoes the #1 food to avoid. Within a few days we had worked with the author and the editor to update the article to admit that bpa has already been removed from 95% of the retail canned tomatoes and that consumers could simply search for bpa free labels if this was a concern. Any time this articles appears tpwc responds immediately calling them inaccurate and irresponsible, resulting in a steep decline in these types of articles.

completed registration of the tomato wellness logo for the use of members in good standing. Trademark and copyright registration was established. The logo has just begun to be used by some members who have also utilized tomato wellness social media support. Monitored industry and nutrition news. Developed and implemented communications strategies including news releases, newsletters, statements and presentations. Addressed public misinformation about the need to limit processed tomato consumption, such as the hospital dietary guidelines. A noteworthy example was the bpa article in consumer reports that named canned tomatoes the #1 food to avoid. Within a few days we had worked with the author and the editor to update the article to admit that bpa has already been removed from 95% of the retail canned tomatoes and that consumers could simply search for bpa free labels if this was a concern. Any time this articles appears tpwc responds immediately calling them inaccurate and irresponsible, resulting in a steep decline in these types of articles. A major new area of attention was the planning and cdfa interaction that led to the tpwc achieving a specialty crop block grant of $450,000 to be used over the next two years to increase demand for tomato products with millennials and hispanics. This will include consumer research, video production, website and social media. Maintained a monthly dietitian newsletter to send to key nutrition influencers. The mailing list database has been built over the years through our continued outreach at events. Exhibited at events and attended conferences, continuing to develop partnerships and opportunities for outreach and relationship building. Continued to track and evaluate scientific developments, and to act as a source for usda farm to school information, dietary guidelines "red" vegetable enhancement and bpa issue monitoring. Dr. Burton-freeman continued to compile and update to the database of approximately 650 studies on tomato products and health funded by tpwc. She continued work on a summary of current evidence on tomato products and health for publication. Continued to develop and enhance the "tomato makes it" campaign to educate about the health benefits of tomato products. Final year of the three year social media marketing campaign "endless summer". Google provided tpwc with access to it's proprietary application platform to assist tpwc grow, engage and monetize its social media presence. Promotion of the benefits of tomato products through various social media properties. Social media programs included facebook, pinerest, and twitter generating over 49 million impressions and 500,000 facebook fans. Videos were viewed by 2 million, with over 20,000 bloggers, and influencers were reached directly with newsletters and emailed updates. Worked with cooperative/comlimentary on-line promotions with other organizations. Tpwc scientific reviews showed that studies continue to support tomato products role in health. Reducing inflammation, cholesterol, blood pressure, risk of cardiovasular disease, sun skin damage, prostate cancer, improving bone health. Studies also included consumption of vegetables/tomato products in schools. Develolped and launched healthy eating toolkits: the school lunch toolkit includes information about using tomato products in the national school lunch program. The food service toolkit, includes information about using tomato products in the food service setting, with recipes scaled to 50 and 100 servings. Instrumental in correcting and updating the nutrition care manual used to advise discharged hospital patients about eating healthy and avoiding certain foods.