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*On the occasion of World School Milk Day, Tetra Pak, in collaboration with sister company De Laval, announced that it will provide practical support to three additional school feeding programmes in Haiti, Colombia and Venezuela and expand existing activities in Russia and India. *

Tetra Pak now partners with host governments and non-governmental organisations in 52 countries to provide milk and other nutritious drinks to more than 45 million children worldwide – including 22 million in developing countries, an increase from 17 million in 2006.

Tetra Pak's involvement in ongoing feeding programmes includes support of India's first large-scale school milk programme, launched in November 2007 by the Municipal Corporation of the Mumbai City, targeting 1,200 schools and 450,000 children.

The Russian school milk programme supported by Tetra Pak and now in its fifth year, is also expected to expand in 2009 to include six new regions and approximately 400,000 new participants.

"Tetra Pak's support of school milk programmes as well as agricultural and dairy development programmes around the world, are an important part of our corporate commitment to making food safe and available everywhere," said Ulla Holm, Global Director, Tetra Pak Food for Development Office.

"They're also a key element of our business strategy and commitment to Tetra Pak dairy customers around the world. This is because school feeding and other dairy development programmes, in addition to improving the health and learning capacities of the children, often act as a catalyst for agricultural and economic development," said Holm.

New in 2008 The new school milk programme in Haiti, funded by the World Bank and managed by the Catholic Relief Services, was launched in May 2008. Initially, it will cover 10,000 children, predominantly in the Cité de Soleil district of the capital Porte-au-Prince.

In Colombia, Tetra Pak is assisting The Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF) with the development of its Bienestarina product in a ready to drink format. Bienestarina, a nutritional cereal-based product mixed with milk, vitamins and minerals, is currently being distributed to the schools in powder format.

A pilot School Feeding Programme with Bienestarina in Tetra Pak packages is scheduled to commence in late 2008 and will initially cover 5,000 children. Tetra Pak has conducted a technical assessment of the Colombia School Feeding Programme and will assist with the programme implementation.

In Venezuela, Tetra Pak is cooperating with the Corporación Venezolana Agraria (CVA) on a School Feeding Programme using a fortified soya chocolate-flavoured beverage based on locally grown soy beans. The first phase of the programme is planned to start in November 2008 and will reach 64,000 children throughout the school year.