Sara Lee Launches New Made with Whole-Grain White Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns in Time for Grill Season

04/04/06 DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. Sara Lee Food & Beverage announced today that it
has added whole grain to another staple in the diets of white bread lovers – white hot dog and
white hamburger buns. Just in time for the start of grilling season, Sara Lee Made With Whole
Grain White Hot Dog Buns and White Hamburger Buns went on sale Monday at grocery stores
across the country that sell Sara Lee fresh bread and bakery products.

The new buns are made with a blend of 76 percent enriched white flour and 24 percent special
“white” whole-wheat flour that is milder in taste, softer in texture and lighter in color than
traditional whole-wheat flour. The buns taste, look and have the texture of traditional white
hot dog and hamburger buns with the added nutrition of whole grain – 6 grams per bun. The
buns also are a good source of calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B folic acid.
The average suggested retail price for the eight-count, 12-ounce packages ranges from $2.29 to
$2.49, depending on the region of the country. The buns will be baked at 30 Sara Lee bakeries
across the country (list provided below).

The new Made With Whole Grain White buns join the company’s existing line up of Sara Lee
buns, including all-white hot dog and hamburger buns, wheat hot dog and hamburger buns,
gourmet hamburger buns and 100 percent whole-wheat gourmet hamburger buns.

Sara Lee has successfully used its flour-blend strategy to introduce whole grain into white-style
products without sacrificing the taste, texture and appearance that most Americans prefer.
Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Made With Whole Grain White Bread was introduced in July and has
become the best-selling loaf of bread in the country (stock-keeping unit). Sara Lee has also
introduced Made With Whole Grain Plain Bagels and Made With Whole Grain Original
English Muffins.

“Adding whole-grain flour to our white hot dog and hamburger buns is a big opportunity to get
additional whole-grain servings into the diets of Americans,” said Bill Nictakis, president of
Sara Lee Food & Beverage’s U.S. Fresh Bakery business. “We know that most Americans are
white-bread lovers and prefer the taste, texture and appearance of white-flour products. So the
key to getting a large cross-section of Americans to consume more whole grain is getting
whole grain into products that they will eat. If every hamburger and hot dog bun sold in
America last year had the amount of whole grain that our new Sara Lee buns do, Americans
would have added more than 3 billion servings of whole grain to their diets.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new MyPyramid Food Guidance System calls for
Americans ages 9 or older to consume six to 11 servings of grain foods per day, such as bread,
pasta and rice, and to make half of those servings whole-grain servings. Research has shown
that Americans who consume at least three servings of whole-grain foods per day are generally
healthier than those who don’t. Whole-grain consumption has been correlated with decreased
risk of heart disease, stroke, some cancers and type-2 diabetes, and may aid in weight
maintenance.

Consumers have traditionally preferred products made from refined-grain flour, such as white
flour, to those made from 100 percent whole-grain flour. Sara Lee market research shows that
while Americans understand the benefits of whole-grain foods, the largest barriers to
consuming more whole-wheat and whole-grain breads and bakery products are the stronger
taste, darker color and firmer texture associated with whole-grain flour.

Of the 820 million pounds of hot dog and hamburger buns Americans have bought in the past
year, 81 percent were white buns, according to supermarket sales data compiled by Information
Resources, Inc. (does not include sales at super centers, club stores and other retail outlets).
“It is clear that when it comes to attracting and satisfying mainstream consumers who aren’t
ready to eat 100 percent whole-grain products, enriched white flour and whole-grain flour work
better together than separately,” said Frances Coletta R.D., Ph.D., director of product nutrition
for Sara Lee Food & Beverage. “With the USDA’s recent recommendation for Americans to
make half their grains whole, many consumers are searching for a way to do just that, but
without sacrificing great taste. Adding buns to the portfolio of Sara Lee breads, bagels and
English muffins made with a blend of whole-grain and white flour will help many consumers
make the transition to whole-grain foods without shocking their taste expectations. A similar
transitional approach was successful in the dairy aisle – with consumers moving from whole
milk to 2 percent milk to skim milk.”

Sara Lee Made With Whole Grain White Buns are produced at 30 of the company’s fresh bakeries.
They are Albuquerque, N.M., Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Dothan, Ala., Dubuque, Iowa, Fresno,
Calif., Grand Rapids, Mich., Hastings, Neb., Knoxville, Tenn., London, Ky., Lubbock, Texas,
Madison, Wis., Marquette, Mich., Meridian, Miss., Minneapolis, Mobile, Ala., Oakland, Calif.,
Oklahoma City, Omaha, Neb., Orangeburg, S.C., Owensboro, Ky., Phoenix, Rock Island, Ill.,
Sacramento, Calif., Salt Lake City, Sioux Falls, S.D., Stockton, Calif., Valdese, N.C., and Wichita,
Kan.

Sara Lee Food & Beverage is the North American retail food division of Sara Lee Corporation
(NYSE:SLE). Based in Downers Grove, Ill., Sara Lee Food & Beverage develops and markets
many of the world’s favorite high-quality baked goods, packaged meats and coffee. Leading
brands and products include Sara Lee fresh breads, frozen desserts and deli meats, Hillshire Farm
lunch meats, Jimmy Dean sausage and breakfast foods, Ball Park franks and the Senseo singleserve
premium coffee system.