The company sought students’ essay submissions from Oct. 10 to Nov.  2, about why their schools need a lunch makeover. The two winning entries for the Sara Lee® Soft & Smooth Bread Ultimate Lunch Switcheroo Contest will win a star–literally. Corbin Bleu, actor/singer/dancer from High School Musical, will serve lunch to the winners’ schools. In addition to Bleu’s visit, each winning student will win a $5,000 grant for his or her school and a one-year supply of Sara Lee Soft & Smooth bread.

“We hope the [contest] will inspire families to send their kids to school with whole grain sandwiches,” said Peter Reiner, vice president, Sara Lee brands. “Kids want good taste first and foremost. If we deliver that plus have some fun with megastar Corbin Bleu, we can get kids and families in Southern California to include breads with more whole grain nutrition in their diets.”

Forty percent of bread sold at grocery stores in Southern California is white. Of wheat bread sales in Southern California, for the 52-weeks ending September 23, only 37 percent is 100 percent whole wheat bread, according to Information Resources Inc. Similarly, most wheat breads sold in the United States are enriched wheat breads that have various B vitamins and iron added, but little whole grain nutrition. According to a national survey conducted by Sara Lee, 73 percent of mothers mistakenly identified their traditional wheat bread as 100 percent whole wheat, when it was actually enriched wheat bread.

Sara Lee provides the whole grain content of its enriched white and enriched wheat breads on its Web site, www.thejoyofeating.com. The site includes information on whole grain content for the top-selling wheat breads in the country, including Sara Lee’s competitors, and provides consumers with a useful tool to better help them understand whole grain nutrition in breads.