Town's Success With Eating Oatmeal Propels Residents Into National Ad Campaign
PRNewswire, Lafayette, CO, Aug. 12, 1998

Lafayette residents gathered in the local high school gymasium today to see themselves on the "big screen" and celebrate their debut in a nationwide advertising campaign by The Quaker Oats Company. Soon these Coloradans will appear on television sets and breakfast tables across the country-representing the first time in the brand's 120-year history that a town and its residents are featured in Quaker oatmeal's national advertising and on packaging.

In January 1998, 100 Lafayette residents volunteered to eat oatmeal daily for 30 days as they banded together to take the Smart Heart Challenge, a cholesterol-reducing program that allows people to prove to themselves what scientific studies have already confirmed-eating oatmeal may help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease.

At the end of the 30 days, 98 out of 100 Lafayette participants had lowered their cholesterol. Their average drop was double the 12 point reduction that clinical studies report.

Explaining the science behind the Challenge, Dr. Joseph Keenan, professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and authority on oatmeal's effects on heart health, says, "Oatmeal contains oat soluble fiber which acts like tiny sponges, soaking up cholesterol and carrying it out of the body. Thirty-seven scientific studies and an FDA claim back up these heart-health benefits."

Source: The Quaker Oats Company