Aetna and Bobby Flay Kick off a Healthy Cooking, Healthy Living Revolution with the Aetna Healthy Food Fight

HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aetna (NYSE:AET) today announced the launch of the Aetna Healthy Food Fight, a healthy cooking contest developed with chefs from The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Anyone with an original healthy recipe can enter the contest for a chance to cook at one of 10 local events and have their dishes judged by celebrity chefs Sunny Anderson, Cat Cora or Sara Moulton. The winner of each local event will win an all expense paid trip to Los Angeles, Calif. to cook at the finals judged by Bobby Flay. The Aetna Healthy Food Fight national winner will receive a $10,000 package of KitchenAid appliances, courtesy of Lowe’s and Whirlpool Corporation. Aetna and Bobby Flay will launch the contest with an employee event at Aetna’s corporate headquarters in Hartford, Conn. on Wednesday, Sept. 1.

“The Aetna Healthy Food Fight builds on Aetna’s overall commitment to offering health and wellness programs aimed at helping people achieve their best health. We believe that this campaign will create a community-based dialogue around healthy eating and healthy living that will live well beyond the campaign itself.”

“I love a challenge, so I’m excited to join Aetna and The Culinary Institute of America in teaching people across the country that healthy cooking can be fun, easy, and taste terrific,” said Bobby Flay, critically acclaimed chef/restaurateur, cookbook author and TV personality.

To submit an original recipe, go to www.HealthyFoodFight.com. Chefs from The CIA will screen recipes and select 40 entrants for each of the 10 regional events. Local finalists will cook their creation live and be judged by The CIA chefs, a celebrity chef and local VIPs. There will be one local winner per market. Spectators are encouraged to attend the events to cheer on their local participants, learn about healthy cooking and eating and even meet the celebrity chefs. As part of the events, the sweepstakes offer the opportunity to win gourmet cookware provided by Circulon®. Enter the sweepstakes at a local cook-off event or on the website.

“We all know the statistics about obesity – it is an epidemic, so there has never been a better time to encourage Americans to adopt healthy eating habits. And, there’s no better way to deliver that message than to offer a little friendly competition among amateur chefs and in-person cooking tips from some of the country’s top chefs,” said Frank McCauley, head of Aetna’s Local Employers and Consumers business. “The Aetna Healthy Food Fight builds on Aetna’s overall commitment to offering health and wellness programs aimed at helping people achieve their best health. We believe that this campaign will create a community-based dialogue around healthy eating and healthy living that will live well beyond the campaign itself.”

The tour will make stops in 10 cities across the country, including:

Rockaway, N.J., at Rockaway Townsquare – Sept. 4
Rutherford, N.J., at Rutherford Labor Day Street Fair – Sept. 6 (Sunny Anderson)
Philadelphia, Pa., at Kennett Square Mushroom Festival – Sept. 11-12 (Sunny Anderson)
Cleveland, Ohio, at Ripe! Food & Garden Festival – Sept. 25-26 (Sunny Anderson)
San Antonio, Texas, at Riverwalk in front of the Grand Hyatt – Oct. 2-3 (Sunny Anderson)
Houston, Texas, at Bayou City Art Festival – Oct. 9-10 (Sara Moulton)
Jacksonville, Fla., at Riverside Arts Market – Oct. 15-16 (Sara Moulton)
Atlanta, Ga., at Taste of Atlanta – Oct. 23-24 (Sara Moulton)
Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., at Victoria Gardens – Oct. 30-31 (Sara Moulton)
San Diego, Calif., at Gaslamp Quarter – Nov. 6-7 (Cat Cora)
Los Angeles, Calif., at Fairplex (LA County Fairgrounds) – Nov. 13-14 (Cat Cora)
Los Angeles, Calif., – FINALS: Nov. 18 (Bobby Flay)

To submit a recipe or to learn more about the contest, visit: www.HealthyFoodFight.com.

About Aetna

Aetna is one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits companies, serving approximately 35.8 million people with information and resources to help them make better informed decisions about their health care. Aetna offers a broad range of traditional and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental, behavioral health, group life and disability plans, and medical management capabilities and health care management services for Medicaid plans. Our customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. For more information, see www.aetna.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6413122&lang=en