Heart healthiness is one of the biggest challenges Americans face, and building awareness is more than half the battle. Women, in particular, too often fail to realize its seriousness.

Only 13 percent of women know that heart disease is their leading cause of death, killing nearly half a million women each year. While 1-in-29 American women will die of breast cancer, 1-in-2.4 will die from heart disease.

Some worrisome risk factors...

• Approximately half of all American women are sedentary and get no leisure-time and physical activity;
• An estimated one-third of American women are obese;
• Women are unaware that heart disease affects both them and men, regardless of their heart history.
• 

Sources: National Center on Health Statistics; National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; American Heart Association's 2004 Statistical Update; and ABC News Poll.

Eating right is a key part of heart health and more and more manufacturers are working to help Americans do so with foods that promise low-fat, no trans fats and reduced sodium.

I always think of canned soup as being high in sodium but I am seeing both Campbell's and Progresso cutting back on the sodium in their prepared soups and it is about time!

A few are taking the fight one step further by supporting programs dedicated to keeping Americans healthy. This is not just the right thing to do for those who suffer, but it's good business. All things being equal, Americans prefer to purchase from those companies who support important causes.

“Go Red for Women”
For the second year, Campbell is putting its marketing muscle behind the American Heart Association's successful "Go Red for Women" Campaign. This partnership is designed to raise awareness of women's risk of heart disease and promote the steps they can take to live longer, healthier lives.

For 2008, Campbell is taking what might be termed a stronger "ownership" position, broadening and enhancing the program -- even creating an exclusive company umbrella thematic:
adDRESS Your Heart with Campbell's

Campbell's soups are popular around the world.

WOW, 12 cents a can!  A very long time ago.

In 1869, Ulysses S. Grant was sworn into the Presidency of the US (only 37 states of the current 50 at the time) and the last stake was driven into the transcontinental railroad.

That same year, two men — a fruit merchant named Joseph Campbell and an icebox manufacturer named Abraham Anderson — shook hands in Camden, New Jersey, to form a business that would one day become one of the most recognized in the world and serve as a symbol of Americana: Campbell Soup Company. Originally called the Joseph A. Campbell Preserve Company, the business produced canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments, and minced meats.

In 1897,  (47 states by now) a major milestone occurred when Arthur Dorrance, the general manager of the company, reluctantly hired his 24-year-old nephew to join the company. Dr. John T. Dorrance, a chemist who had trained in Europe, was so determined to join Campbell that he agreed to pay for laboratory equipment out of his own pocket and accept a token salary of just $7.50 per wee

Dr. Dorrance quickly made his mark on history with the invention of condensed soup in 1897. By eliminating the water in canned soup, he lowered the costs for packaging, shipping, and storage. This made it possible to offer a 10-ounce can of Campbell’s condensed soup for a dime, versus more than 30 cents for a typical 32-ounce can of soup. The idea became so hot with Americans that in 1922, (48 states by now) the company formally adopted "Soup" as its middle name.

Much happened in the growth including advertising and an outreach to various cuisines of the world.

Today, the Campbell name stretches to China, Australia, Argentina, and beyond. Campbell products are available in practically every country in the world. While many of the products Americans know are offered internationally, regional varieties like Watercress and Duck-Gizzard Soup in China and a Cream of Chili Poblano soup in Mexico, have been introduced to respond to cultural differences. Even though the Company’s foods have found their way into homes thousands of miles from the Camden, New Jersey headquarters, they still bear the name of the man who made his mark selling soup from a horse-drawn wagon -- Joseph Campbell.