From Menu to Mouth: Opportunities for Sodium Reduction in Restaurants

Levings, Jessica Lee; Gunn, Janelle P.

doi:10.5888/pcd11.130237

Cited by 9 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Restaurant foods can be an important source of sodium in the diet. Restaurant foods can contribute nearly to 25% of the sodium consumed [ 11 , 48 ]. A study proposed Strategies to Encourage Sodium Reduction in Restaurants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The need for efforts to make restaurants to reduce consumer sodium exposure and to generate greater consumer awareness on how much sodium is in foods consumed away from home is noteworthy. However, there is a challenge for restaurant employees which is the lack of standardized recipes and the lack of employee knowledge about the importance of the SC on consumer health [ 11 , 29 ]. Recipe analysis and subsequent menu-labeling require cost and time, which can be a barrier to consumer information [ 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although consumers can read and compare Nutrition Fact labels when purchasing packaged foods, acquiring information while eating out can be more challenging. Nutrition fact panels are not mandatory for food services in most countries [ 11 ]. In this context, studies have been highlighting the empowering element that nutrition information in a food service setting has in allowing consumers to make healthy choices [ 12 , 13 ] to control the advance of chronic diseases [ 14 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, studies have been highlighting the empowering element that nutrition information in a food service setting has in allowing consumers to make healthy choices [ 12 , 13 ] to control the advance of chronic diseases [ 14 ]. Excess sodium and lipid consumption is a significant health problem that contributes to hypertension, diabetes, obesity and other chronic illnesses which are leading causes of death worldwide [ 11 , 15 , 16 , 17 ]. Although the studies show that nutritional information is the most critical strategy to induce healthier food choices, systematic reviews assessed the influence of menu-labeling on food choices and the studies verified that the only exposition of calorie/nutrients labeling in menus is not sufficient to promote healthier food choices [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Food Rating Scale in Food Services: From Development to Assessment of a Strategy for Consumer Healthier Choices

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to create an easy tool to identify healthier choices for meal assembly in food services (self-service restaurants) and to allow consumers to compose their plates to make healthier choices. It is an interventional study, and the first step was setting healthy food parameters to design a rating scale. The first evaluation criterion was based on energy density (ED) and sodium content (SC) using “traffic light” color in the dishes’ nameplates; the second criterion was based on food groups; the third criterion was based on ingredients of the meals. After using the classification, we assessed the rating scale in a food service and we evaluated the strategy with its consumers. To evaluate the effect of the nutritional intervention, we developed a multiple-choice-questionnaire with eight questions to measure the impact on consumer food choices quantitatively. The dish nameplate allows identification of healthier choices regarding SC and/or ED by colors; ingredients that compose the dish; the food group and the serving size, helping the identification of the amount of food to compose the meal. Banners helped consumers to understand the information. After four weeks, all the consumers (n = 1000) received questionnaires regarding their comprehension of the classification. The questionnaire presented an ICC of 0.71. Most of the preparations (61%) were inadequate based on ED and/or SC at the studied food service. A total of 556 consumers returned questionnaires, and 86.3% of them observed the rating scale as a nutritional strategy. Almost 55% (n = 261) of consumers reported changes in food choice after reading the dishes nameplates. The items with greater impact on consumer change in eating behavior were the use of colors as an indicator of nutritional quality, portion size information and ingredients list. Almost 25% of the consumers that changed their eating behavior noticed more than three items presented on the nameplate.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Food Rating Scale in Food Services: From Development to Assessment of a Strategy for Consumer Healthier Choices

et al. 2018

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This analysis showed that many large chain restaurants have not made meaningful progress to reduce the fat, saturated fat, added sugars and especially the sodium content of offerings to align with recommended targets for meals sold to children, adolescents and parents. Technical assistance is available to help restaurants meet these nutrient targets [ 130 ]. Some research suggests that consumers will accept restaurants making modest and gradual recipe changes to items over time to reduce total calorie, fat and sodium intake [ 131 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Progress Evaluation for the Restaurant Industry Assessed by a Voluntary Marketing-Mix and Choice-Architecture Framework That Offers Strategies to Nudge American Customers toward Healthy Food Environments, 2006–2017

Kraak

Englund

Misyak

et al. 2017

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Consumption of restaurant food and beverage products high in fat, sugar and sodium contribute to obesity and non-communicable diseases. We evaluated restaurant-sector progress to promote healthy food environments for Americans. We conducted a desk review of seven electronic databases (January 2006–January 2017) to examine restaurant strategies used to promote healthful options in the United States (U.S.). Evidence selection (n = 84) was guided by the LEAD principles (i.e., locate, evaluate, and assemble evidence to inform decisions) and verified by data and investigator triangulation. A marketing-mix and choice-architecture framework was used to examine eight voluntary strategies (i.e., place, profile, portion, pricing, promotion, healthy default picks, priming or prompting and proximity) to evaluate progress (i.e., no, limited, some or extensive) toward 12 performance metrics based on available published evidence. The U.S. restaurant sector has made limited progress to use pricing, profile (reformulation), healthy default picks (choices), promotion (responsible marketing) and priming and prompting (information and labeling); and some progress to reduce portions. No evidence was available to assess progress for place (ambience) and proximity (positioning) to promote healthy choices during the 10-year review period. Chain and non-chain restaurants can apply comprehensive marketing-mix and nudge strategies to promote healthy food environments for customers.

show abstract