http://www.nrn.com/breakingNews.aspx?id=377992&utm_source=MagnetMail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=clg071@jwu.edu&utm_content=NRN-News-NRNam-1-11-10&utm_campaign=Jan.%2011,%202010%20-%20Restaurants%20look%20for%20a%20place%20in%20customers
I think its great that restaurants are trying to improve their menus and add healthier menu items. Places like subway have had healthier menu items form the start, but it’s nice to see other chains venture in that area. For me personally I like knowing how many calories I consume daily and with restaurants telling us these are your lower calorie choices it makes it easier for me to make a healthier choice. This is important to me because I work two jobs and go to school full time and can’t always have a meal at home. It might also influence people who normally don’t watch what they eat to change it up a little and eat healthier. However this article warns us, we still have to be careful what we chose to eat on these lower calorie menus because U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows restaurants to have up to a 20 % margin of error when posting calories for their menu items. 20 % is huge, let’s pretend that you are eating a 500 calorie meal but it is actually 20% higher than reported that is an extra 100 calories you ate without even knowing it. Now you might be saying who cares it’s only 100 extra calories but for someone trying to lose weight that is 100 more calories they have to burn. And for those who don’t know 1 lb is equals to 3500 calories.
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I think its awesome how restaurants are doing this now, I see it more and more wherever I go. It's insane how many calories and how much fat are in some of the menu items at some of these restaurants, and we really don't know what we're eating. I remember once going to Macaroni Grill a few years ago and seeing a 'less than 700 calorie' portion of their menu. I was so surprised that most things they offered could not fit under that requirement, even some of their salads! With the recent health trend becoming stronger than ever, I think it's a really savvy business decision for restaurants to offer lower calorie items. I know that I dine out less when I am trying to watch what I eat, mostly because I feel I wont have any option but a salad. But it seems like the fast food restaurants are even getting in on it, with KFC and their 395 calorie meal. I think thats also a big reason why Subway is so successful, they started out being concerned with health and offering much of their menu to healthy eaters, and it has really paid off for them. They were rated the number 1 franchise of 2009. I feel like as more and more restaurants become required to post calorie and fat content on their menus, they will have to offer more nutritional choices because their customers will finally realize how bad the food is for them. Awesome article!
ReplyDeleteThe fact restaurants are now starting to post their nutrition facts, to me, show how much more people are eating out and not cooking at home. Cooking at home was and is a staple of my home life. Regardless of how tired or busy our days are we cook. My family made it a point when I was growing up. Yes we would occasionally, and by occasionally I mean once every two months most would we eat take-out during the week. We would eat out every Friday as a treat, but we cooked six days a week. Even still my parents have a weight problem. The foods we were eating weren’t good. But at the beginning of this past summer, my parents asked me to revamp their routine. Only dinning out once a week still, but how we ate changed. I showed them how to eat the same foods, but healthier, and by the end of the summer, my father lost fifteen pounds, and my mother seven. Women, have many more factors inhibiting weight loss. When eating out it is ridiculous how fattening it is. And when eating out, it’s good to see we are getting some choices, for those days we have to eat out. This article brings attention to innovations restaurants are doing to help fight obesity. People just need to educate themselves about health and use logic. This article shows how restaurants make those choices easier. Granted my personal opinion and style isn’t business savvy, it’s good to see corporate America is adapting.
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