Michelle Obama Talks Anti-Obesity to Food Giants

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama has talked to schools and nutrition groups across the country in her effort to reduce childhood obesity, and is now facing the food companies that make the snacks and junk food that stuff grocery aisles and school vending machines.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association — which counts Kraft Foods Inc., Coca Cola Co. and General Mills Inc. among its members — invited her to speak at its science forum about her campaign for healthier kids, launched earlier this year.

Michelle Obama has not previously taken her anti-obesity campaign directly to the large food companies. She said recently, however, that she would like to see more customer-friendly food labels "so parents won't have to spend hours squinting at words that they can't pronounce to figure out whether the foods that they're buying are healthy or not."

She has also said she will push companies that supply foods to schools to improve nutritional quality. Her campaign is largely focused on school lunches and vending machines, along with making healthy food more available and encouraging children to exercise more.

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