Eating Out: Nutrition Information, Part 2

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

(Page 2 of 2)

Consumers can use these claims to spot foods that may be more healthful for them. They also can look for statements giving what FDA considers general dietary guidance. For example, the salad section may start with the message "Eating five fruits and vegetables a day is an important part of a healthy diet." This statement would refer to the National Cancer Institute's recommendation that Americans eat more fruits and vegetables to help reduce their risk of cancer and heart disease.

Restaurants do not have to provide nutrition information about foods that do not bear nutrient content or health claims or that are referred to in general dietary guidance messages. However, restaurateurs need to be careful that the general guidance they provide on the menu doesn't turn into a claim, such as "Fruits and vegetables can help reduce the risk of cancer." This, then, would require the item to meet FDA's nutrition information and claims' requirements.

Claims that promote a nutrient or health benefit must meet certain criteria established by FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture; for example, the food must provide a requisite amount of the nutrient or nutrients referred to in the claim. In addition, a menu item carrying a health claim must provide significant amounts of one or more of six key nutrients, such as vitamin C, iron or fiber, and cannot contain a food substance at a level that increases the risk of a disease or health condition. For example, a restaurant meal that contains 26 grams of fat (40 percent of the Daily Value for fat) or 960 milligrams of sodium (40 percent of the Daily Value for sodium) is disqualified from making a heart-healthy claim.

These same rules apply to claims used in the labeling of commercial food products. But the requirements for further information differ between restaurant and commercially manufactured foods.

To meet FDA's criteria, food manufacturers may choose to do chemical analyses to determine the nutritional value of their products. But the criteria for menu items are more flexible, and, under FDA's requirements, restaurants may back up their claims with any "reasonable" base, such as databases, cookbooks, or other secondhand sources that provide nutrition information.

Also, restaurants do not have to provide the standard nutrition information profile and more exacting nutrient content values required in the Nutrition Facts panel of packaged foods. Instead, restaurants can present the information in any format desired, and they have to provide only information about the nutrient or nutrients that the claim is referring to. They can say simply that the amount of the nutrient in question does not exceed the limit imposed by FDA — for example, "This low-fat restaurant dish provides no more than 5 grams of fat per serving."

"It should be accurate," FDA's Smith said, "but not necessarily precise."

Although nutrition information is not required to appear on the menu, it must be made available to consumers when they request it. Restaurants can present it in a printed format — such as a notebook — or by having the staff recite it.

FDA is granting restaurants more flexibility because they don't produce foods according to the more exacting standards that food manufacturers follow, Smith said. She notes that restaurants change their menus frequently and produce smaller quantities than commercial food operations. And restaurant products often vary, depending on the type of ingredients available.

"A commercial operation has more stability than a restaurant," she said. "It would be an unreasonable burden to require restaurants to follow the same labeling regulations for packaged foods."

Much of the enforcement of the menu claims' regulations will likely be provided by state and local public health departments. The reason, Smith said, is that state and local health departments have direct jurisdiction over restaurants, including monitoring their food safety and sanitation practices, and regularly visit them to ensure compliance with various federal and state laws. Also, she said, FDA doesn't have the resources.

Whether restaurants will continue to make claims on menus now that they will be more closely monitored remains to be seen. "We're not sure what the result will be," said Bob Harrington, vice president of technical services for the National Restaurant Association. "Our fear is that the rules are so complex and compliance so confusing that [restaurants] will quit giving claims at all."

Healthful Foods with Flair

But some restaurants that have added healthier menu choices highlighted with claims report that those dishes sell well. Barbara Hartman, head chef for Geppetto, an Italian restaurant in Bethesda, Md., and a participant in Suburban Hospital's Heart Healthy Restaurant Program, said the restaurant's "Healthy Menu" items account for 5 to 10 percent of daily sales. The sandwiches — Tuna Sandwich Dijon, Grilled Vegetable Sub, and others — represent as much as 20 percent of all sandwich sales, she said.

"We've had an excellent response," she said. "Better than we thought we would have."

Although most of the customer feedback has been positive, she noted that customers sometimes complain about the blandness of the food. "There's no salt, no sugar, no oil added," she said. "So I coach the waiters to let customers know that the food may not be as tasty as what they're used to. Then they won't be taken aback by what they're getting."

Healthy menu choices aren't going to appeal to every customer, either. Heart Smart's Peters noted that one previous client, a restaurant that offered only healthy-type foods, went out of business because its selection was too narrow. "People need a choice," she said.

And not every dish is suitable for dietary modification. Some lose their palatability when the fat and sodium contents are reduced to low levels, Peters said, citing fettuccine Alfredo as a prime example. Dishes containing cheese or cream sauces are difficult to modify, dietitian Dolan noted. And chef Hartman said the poached salmon that used to be on her restaurant's Healthy Menu had to be removed because the salmon didn't fit the criteria for a "heart healthy" claim.

But there still are plenty of other dishes that can easily be used or reworked as more healthful food offerings. Among those cited by restaurant menu experts are grilled seafood, chicken, venison, and ostrich; spaghetti with turkey meatballs; several Mexican dishes; salads; and pasta dishes and other entrées traditionally made with wine or herb sauces. Geppetto, for example, offers a single-serving California Bambino Pizza with a whole-wheat crust, fat-reduced mozzarella cheese, tomato basil sauce, roasted garlic, fresh mushrooms, broccoli, and roasted peppers. It provides 506 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 24 milligrams of cholesterol.

Tasty, yet healthful. And, one might add, a far cry from its predecessor, the dieter's plate.

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.