Re Agreement

Tate & Lyle PLC
                  

19 February 2004 - Tate & Lyle PLC

Tate & Lyle and McNeil Nutritionals Announce

Strategic Realignment of Sucralose Alliance

Tate & Lyle PLC ('Tate & Lyle') announced today the realignment of its sucralose
agreements with McNeil Nutritionals (a division of McNeil-PPC, Inc., a Johnson &
Johnson company) to better position sucralose and the SPLENDA(R) Brand for
future global growth opportunities.

In the new agreements, Tate & Lyle will become the sole manufacturer and will be
responsible for the world-wide ingredient sales of SPLENDA(R) Brand sucralose to
food and beverage manufacturers. McNeil Nutritionals will retain ownership of
the SPLENDA(R) Brand and have commercial responsibility for the worldwide
SPLENDA(R) Brand retail and food service business. Tate & Lyle will supply
McNeil Nutritionals sucralose on an exclusive basis.

This realignment of responsibilities is a natural evolution of the long-term
partnership that has nurtured the success of sucralose and the SPLENDA(R) Brand.
The collaborative structure plays to the strengths of each company and ensures
that customers, wherever they are, receive enhanced service dedicated to their
business sector.

On closing, McNeil Nutritionals will transfer to Tate & Lyle its sucralose
manufacturing plant in Alabama and other assets of the ingredients business,
including intellectual property, for a net cash consideration of US$134 million

(£70 million) subject to working capital adjustments. The net book value of the
assets being acquired by Tate & Lyle at 28 December 2003 was US$181 million (£95
million) and the un-audited pro-forma profit before tax generated by those
assets in the year ended on that date was US$33 million (£17 million).

The terms for this transaction reflect the realignment of the former agreements
together with the two companies' respective investments and contributions to the
development of the business to date and that each party will continue to
participate in the success of the other's business.

Despite significant one-off costs to integrate the ingredients business, the
acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing and to exceed Tate & Lyle's
cost of capital in the first full year of operation by Tate & Lyle.

The transaction is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Anti-Trust
Improvement Act in the United States. Both companies expect to conclude this
transaction by 2 April 2004.

Iain Ferguson, Chief Executive of Tate & Lyle, said:

'Growing the contribution from value added and branded products is a key part of
our strategy and acquiring the sucralose ingredients business is another
significant step towards achieving this goal. Sucralose is ideally placed to
meet consumer demands for reduced calorie options in many categories, including
soft drinks, dairy and confectionery. We look forward to offering this
impressive product alongside our existing range of food ingredients and
sweeteners.

'We are pleased that our long-standing relationship with McNeil Nutritionals
continues to be developed so that we are each best able to serve our customer
base and benefit from the exciting growth opportunities that sucralose and the
SPLENDA® Brand offer.'

Brian Perkins, Worldwide Chairman of Consumer Pharmaceuticals & Nutritionals
Group, Johnson & Johnson, said:

'With the impressive growth of both the retail market for SPLENDA(R) Brand
tabletop products, combined with the recent European Union approval of
sucralose, the SPLENDA(R) Brand Sweetener, this realignment will enable us to
better serve our customers around the world.

'Most importantly the new realignment will build our SPLENDA(R) Brand by
maximizing global opportunities in retail and food service. McNeil Nutritionals
will focus resources on marketing to consumers and healthcare professionals,
while Tate & Lyle will provide outstanding supply-side capabilities to the food
and beverage industry.'

About sucralose and SPLENDA(R) Brand

Sucralose was first patented for use as a sweetener by Tate & Lyle and is the
sweetening ingredient in SPLENDA(R) Brand consumer products in the United States
and in the United Kingdom. It is also used to provide sweetness to more than
3,500 foods and beverages worldwide and is poised for dramatic international
growth.

Investor Relations Contacts:

Mark Robinson, Head of Investor Relations, Tate & Lyle PLC
Tel: [phone] or Mobile: [phone]
[e-mail]

Helen Short, VP of Investor Relations, Johnson & Johnson
Tel: [phone]

Stan Panasewicz, Director of Investor Relations, Johnson & Johnson
Tel: [phone]

Press Contacts:

Chris Fox, Director of Corporate Relations, Tate & Lyle PLC
Tel: [phone] or Mobile: [phone]

Monica Neufang, Director of Public Relations, McNeil Nutritionals
Tel: [phone] [e-mail]


About Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle is a world leader in food ingredients. Our core competence is to
take corn, wheat or sugar, and add value to these raw materials through
technology.

As a result of continuous innovation we offer an ever-wider product portfolio of
versatile and functional ingredients. These products include Cereal Sweeteners,
Starches, Sugars and Citric Acid. Our products have wide applications in the
food, beverage, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, paper, packaging and building
industries.

With headquarters in London, Tate & Lyle operates more than 40 plants in

24 countries, almost all in Europe and the Americas. We employ 6,700 people in
our subsidiaries with a further 2,800 employed in joint ventures. Sales in the
year to 31 March 2003 totalled £3,167 million. More details are available online
at www.tateandlyle.com.