Hormel joins cancer specialists to develop line of ready-made foods for chemo patients

AUSTIN, Minn. – Shortly after his mother died of cancer two years ago, Jeff Ettinger, then-chief executive of Hormel Foods, asked the company’s specialty division to explore how to help people undergoing treatment or recovering from it.

The timing was right. The Cancer Nutrition Consortium, a group of U.S. cancer researchers, was looking for a food manufacturer to produce nutritional products based on what they saw was a gaping need. Patients undergoing chemotherapy tend to experience extreme fatigue, unintentional weight loss and suppressed appetite and energy.

“You feel like you finished the New York marathon and have no energy to cook,” said Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, a Florida physician and consortium board member. “Many people end up going to a fast-food restaurant to take home a meal, which is not the nutrition they need.”

http://www.startribune.com/hormel-joins-cancer-specialists-to-develop-line-of-ready-made-foods-for-chemo-patients/401992075/