Canadians are Making 2010 the Year to Keep Their Resolutions - Metro's Life
Smart survey reveals Canadians are dedicated to eating healthy

TORONTO, April 6 /CNW Telbec/ - Canadians are steering clear of jumping off the bandwagon in 2010 when it comes to keeping their New Year's resolutions. A new Ipsos Reid poll(1), conducted on behalf of Metro, found that the majority of Canadians (73 per cent) have kept their promise to eat healthier in 2010.

However, more than half of those surveyed said that it's hard to find time to prepare healthy meals and snacks. Metro's health-conscious Irresistibles Life Smart product line now makes this task easier than ever.

"It's no surprise that more and more Canadians are trying to eat healthy, however healthy eating doesn't have to be complicated," says Gillian Kerr, Senior Marketing Director of Metro "Our private label brand, Irresistibles Life Smart, provides consumers with the healthy balance of calorie-wise products without sacrificing taste. Our packaging also makes it easy for consumers to locate the nutritional information for each product, allowing them to easily choose the healthiest product of the options available."

With World Health Day (April 7th) just a day away, more and more, Canadians are becoming healthy shoppers with eight in ten Ontarians and Quebecers saying they are paying closer attention to the nutritional content of the products they consume. Additionally, though many think that women are more health conscious, when it comes to labels it appears that the gender gap is relatively small with 40 per cent of men versus 42 per cent of women saying that they read labels more closely in an effort to eat better.

With consumers focusing on managing their weight and eating healthier, Irresistibles Life Smart products offer the best quality for the price and provide clear and concise nutritional informations. From daily snacks to breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings, Irresistibles Life Smart's line of 165 calorie-wise products are the perfect match for Canadians looking to improve their eating habits.

For a product to be classified Irresistibles Life Smart it must meet the following requirements:

    
    - No manufactured trans fats (no hydrogenated oils)
    - No artificial colouring and no artificial flavour
    - Low in fat, calories, sugar and sodium
    - No added Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
    

In order to help its consumers eat healthier, Metro has developed a Life Smart solution to planning all your important meals and snacks.

Metro Inc.

With annual sales of over $11 billion and over 65,000 employees, Metro Inc. is a leader in the food and pharmaceutical sectors in Québec and Ontario, where it operates a network of close to 600 food stores under several banners including Metro, Metro Plus, GP, Super C and Food Basics, as well as over 250 drugstores under the Brunet, Brunet Plus, Clini Plus, The Pharmacy and Drug Basics banners.

    
    (1) This data was collected by Ipsos Reid on behalf of Metro Inc. from
        March 8th - March 15th, 2010. These surveys were conducted with two
        samples of 823 and 814 adults living in Ontario and Quebec The survey
        is accurate within +/- 3.0 percentage points or 19 times out of 20.
    

For further information: Tamar Nersesian, Senior Account Executive, Optimum PR, [phone], [email protected]; Natalie Valentini, Communications Specialist, Metro inc., [phone], [email protected]