TRIDENT® AND SMILES ACROSS AMERICA® TEAM UP TO HELP PROMOTE HEALTHY MOUTHS FOR CINCINNATI CHILDREN

TRIDENT® AND SMILES ACROSS AMERICA® TEAM UP TO HELP PROMOTE HEALTHY MOUTHS FOR CINCINNATI CHILDREN

 $1.5 Million Contribution from Trident® Helps Connect CincySmiles Foundation to the Smiles Across America® Family

    Parsippany, NJ – October 22, 2010 – Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease in America , yet more than eight in 10 (84%) American parents don’t realize this .  Smiles Across America® (SAA), an Oral Health America program, in conjunction with Trident® gum, is pleased to welcome Cincinnati-based CincySmiles Foundation to the SAA network.  This effort is part of an ongoing commitment by Oral Health America and Trident to help fight cavities among our nation’s youth.  

    With the help of a $1.5 million, three-year commitment by Trident to the SAA program, Oral Health America currently supports dental services to more than 250,000 children annually in underserved communities nationwide.  Together with local communities, SAA and Trident are working to address the need for school-based and school-linked oral disease prevention services.  

    Today, with the help of Trident, the program will expand its reach to Cincinnati.  Community leaders join Trident, SAA, CincySmiles Foundation and Cincinnati partners, including Growing Well Cincinnati, to bring attention to the importance of healthy mouths for children living in Cincinnati and nationwide.

    With the new partnership, CincySmiles Foundation will change its model of delivering preventive oral health care, and will deliver services to an additional 1,000 elementary school students during the 2010-2011 school year, and an additional 5,000 children per year within three years.  The financial commitment of Trident is critical to Oral Health America’s expansion of services to dental programs in need of SAA-funding, such as CincySmiles Foundation.

    “We are very pleased to welcome CincySmiles Foundation to our family of care providers,” said Beth Truett, president and CEO of Oral Health America. “Through our combined efforts, we can raise public awareness about the importance of healthy mouths for healthy lives, and proactively provide education and services in schools to prevent tooth decay for uninsured and underserved children.”

    Tooth decay affects nearly 50 percent of second graders and almost 80 percent of 17-year-olds . Despite this, nearly three-quarters (74%) of U.S. parents don’t necessarily consider tooth decay to be a chronic childhood disease.  However, many parents do recognize that, if left untreated, tooth decay can negatively impact a child’s well-being, self-esteem or even concentration level.  

Each year, more than 51 million school hours are lost as a result of problems related to tooth decay . The contributions of Trident help SAA link local governments, businesses and supporters with care providers and schools to help fight untreated oral disease in children and prevent the loss of pivotal hours in the classroom.  

    “We are so excited to help expand the number of children nationally who currently receive oral health services and education in schools and extend our reach to now include Cincinnati,” said Maurice Herrera, Trident.  “Providing oral health care solutions to children has always been a primary goal of Trident and we are pleased to continue funding partnerships like the one with CincySmiles Foundation to help shed light on the importance of oral health care in underserviced communities.”  

    Thanks to contributions from supporters like Trident, SAA provides its network with the funding and technical assistance in the areas of communication and coalition building that enables them to reach more underserved and uninsured children and address barriers to care – lack of resources and transportation, low literacy and language diversity. To support the partnership, Walgreens and Plackers® dental flossers have generously provided supplies for the Cincinnati program. To learn more about the Trident and Smiles Across America partnership, visit Trident on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tridentgum.

About Trident® Sugar-Free Gum
    Trident gum has long been a pioneer in providing oral health benefits to consumers.  Trident was the first gum brand of its kind to undergo extensive long-term clinical testing in 1967 with studies showing that people who chewed Trident experienced significantly fewer cavities.  Most recently, the brand introduced Trident Xtra Care® with Recaldent®, a great tasting sugar free gum that delivers superior strengthening power versus regular sugar free chewing gum.  Today, Trident is the best selling chewing gum and sugar free gum in the world  and a recent study shows that the brand continues to be recommended by four out of five dentists who would recommend sugar-free gum to their patients who chew gum .  

About Smiles Across America® (SAA)
    SAA is a signature program created by Oral Health America, a national non-profit organization dedicated to changing lives by connecting communities with resources to increase access to care, education and advocacy.  SAA improves the health of elementary school students by supporting oral disease prevention services in school-based or school-linked settings, and demonstrating to communities that healthy mouths are integral to overall health.  For more information, visit http://www.oralhealthamerica.org.

About Kraft Foods
    With annual revenues of approximately $48 billion, Kraft Foods is a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals. The company is the world’s second largest food company, making delicious products for billions of consumers in more than 160 countries. The portfolio includes 11 iconic brands with revenues exceeding $1 billion – Oreo, Nabisco and LU biscuits; Milka and Cadbury chocolates; Trident gum; Jacobs and Maxwell House coffees; Philadelphia cream cheeses; Kraft cheeses, dinners and dressings; and Oscar Mayer meats. Approximately 70 brands generate annual revenues of more than $100 million. Kraft Foods (www.kraftfoodscompany.com; NYSE: KFT) is a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Standard & Poor’s 500, Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Ethibel Sustainability Index.

Survey Methodology
    The Trident Survey was conducted by Kelton Research among 1,003 nationally representative American parents ages 18 and over with at least one child under age 18 in the household.  The survey was fielded between June 17 and June 22, 2010 using an e-mail invitation and an online survey. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation.  The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results.

    In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 3.1 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.