Cardiologist Elizabeth Klodas, MD, FACC, and food industry veteran Barbara Birr, have launched Step One Foods, a Minneapolis company with a namesake line of physician-formulated products for heart care.

“Every physician knows how critical proper nutrition is for cardiovascular health. But they’ve also seen far too many of their patients fail at sustaining a healthy diet,” says Dr. Klodas, co-founder and One Step Foods’ chief medical officer. “As physicians, what we desperately needed was a simple and credible solution to recommend to our patients.”

Dr. Klodas says Step One Foods contain scientifically-proven levels of the four critical nutritional building blocks for heart health: phytosterols, antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, and fiber. Each product contains at least 407mg of phytosterols, 791 µmol of antioxidants, 1,544mg of omega-3 fatty acids, and 5g of fiber.

Step One Foods’ product line includes dark chocolate bars, cranberry nut bars, oatmeal, a smoothie mix, a pancake mix and an “anytime sprinkle.” Officials say each product is pre-portioned and comes in a single-serve package requiring minimal to no preparation. Step One Foods contain no additives, chemicals, flavorings or colorings.

“Every ingredient in every product has a specific nutritional purpose and was chosen for its health-promoting properties,” said Dr. Klodas, “We developed Step One Foods to be a powerful new tool for physicians to utilize as the nutritional component of a comprehensive heart health plan.”

Co-founder Barbara Birr has more than 25 years CPG marketing experience from roles with Department 56 and Lunds & Byerly’s (innovative, upscale grocery stores). Birr also had her own food consulting business and has helped develop and launch food programs for such well-known national brands as Karen Neuberger and Mary Kay. Birr also has provided market analysis and food-based initiatives planning for the Canadian Consulate and the American Swedish Institute.

Visit www.StepOneFoods.com for more information.