Rainbow Light(R) Nutritional Systems, a leader in natural nutrition for over 25 years, has donated in Q1'09 500,000 Prenatal One(TM) multivitamin tablets to the Cote d'Ivoire Women's Micronutrient Project, one of Vitamin Angels' Thrive to Five programs. And, as part of its ongoing commitment to the program, by year-end Rainbow Light will donate an estimated three million tablets or more to different projects worldwide. The effort will connect women and children in need with daily essential micronutrient supplementation.

With this program, Rainbow Light and Vitamin Angels' goal is to help vulnerable children to thrive physically and cognitively, not just survive. Donations target pregnant and lactating women in the Abidjan slum in the Republic of the Cote d'Ivoire, West Africa, where the population is medically underserved and at special risk for vitamin deficiencies and related morbidity and mortality.

For every 10 bottles of Rainbow Light's food-based Prenatal One Multivitamin/Mineral purchased, Rainbow Light contributes one bottle to the nonprofit Vitamin Angels. This donation provides women and children in need with daily essential micronutrients to ensure maternal health and the healthy physical and cognitive development of the child.

Prenatal One Multivitamin/Mineral provides a balanced micronutrient profile, including vitamin A, important minerals and extra folic acid, vitamin D and iron. Ginger, enzymes and probiotics help soothe the stomach and builds a healthy immune system for both mother and baby.

"Children who are properly nourished are more likely to thrive physically and are able to take advantage of educational opportunities," explains Rainbow Light President Linda Kahler. "In impoverished areas, mother's milk is often the primary nutrient source during the first few years of a child's life. If the mother is undernourished, her child is also apt to lack adequate nutrient intake. This is why prenatal multivitamins are so important for women and their children."

In 2005, the World Health Organization reported 21 percent of children under age five in the Cote d'Ivoire have stunted growth and 69 percent of children age three and under are anemic. The rate of mortality for children under age five is 195 out of 1,000, and 28 percent of children in this age group are vitamin A deficient, which increases susceptibility to infectious diseases and death.

By providing pregnant and lactating women with daily doses of prenatal multivitamins, Vitamin Angels' Cote d'Ivoire Women's Micronutrient Project anticipates reduction in stunted growth, anemia, vitamin A deficiency and chronic malnutrition, resulting in reduced clinic visits and hospitalization, increased school attendance and decreased morbidity and mortality rates.

Rainbow Light has been working with Vitamin Angels since its inception in 1994 to help stamp out prenatal malnutrition worldwide. In 2008, the company donated over 2,350,000 prenatal multivitamin tablets, reaching women and children in 12 different countries, including the U.S.

About Rainbow Light(R) Nutritional Systems, Inc.:

Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems, a leader and innovator in natural nutrition since 1981, is best known as the manufacturer of the No. 1 selling natural multivitamin line, Just Once(R), and the top selling prenatal line, Prenatal One(TM). The Santa Cruz-based company is dedicated to delivering bio-balanced(TM), all-natural food-based formulas that are potent and absorption-enhanced.

In every product, Rainbow Light combines research-based optimal potencies and highly bioavailable complementary nutrient forms with energizing whole foods, botanicals and digestive support for increased energy and utilization with no stomach upset. These proven potencies, produced to the highest quality standards of purity and safety and delivered in a gentle, natural food base, offer consumers superior value and a difference they can feel and, in the case of canines, see. Rainbow Light formulas target both general and specific health concerns for women, men, seniors, children and their canine companions while building a foundation for overall wellness. Rainbow Light integrates the best of medical research with respected traditions of health and wellness to nurture all systems of the body.

In February 2009, Rainbow Light expanded into the pet nutrition category with its new line of all-natural, organic whole food pet supplements, GreenDog Naturals(TM). For more information on Rainbow Light Nutritional Systems, call 1-800-571-4701 or visit www.rainbowlight.com or www.greendognaturals.com.

About Vitamin Angels

Essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives. Vitamin Angels connects vital nutrients with infants and children under five, domestically and worldwide. Vitamin Angels' Thrive to Five program currently distributes approximately 100 million doses of essential micronutrients annually in 21 countries on four continents, including the United States. To learn more, visit www.vitaminangels.org.