Eat Smart! Ontario's Healthy Restaurant Program: A Survey of Participating Restaurant Operators

Abstract

Eat Smart! Ontario's Healthy Restaurant Program is a standard provincial health promotion program. Public health units grant an award of excellence to restaurants that meet designated standards in nutrition, food safety, and non-smoking seating. The purpose of this study was to assess whether program objectives for participating restaurant operators were achieved during the first year of program implementation, and to obtain operators' recommendations for improving the program. Dillman's tailored design method was used to design a mail survey and implement it among participating operators (n = 434). The design method, which consisted of four mail-outs, yielded a 74% response rate. Fifty percent of respondents operated family-style or quick-service restaurants, and 82% of respondents learned about the program from public health inspectors. Almost all respondents (98%) participated in the program mainly to have their establishments known as clean and healthy restaurants, 65% received and used either point-of-purchase table stands or postcards to promote the program, and 98% planned to continue participating. The respondents' suggestions for improving the program were related to the award ceremony and program materials, media promotion, communication, education, and program standards. Program staff can use the findings to enhance the program.

Investigating business outcomes of healthy food retail strategies: A systematic scoping review

“…The context for studies varied greatly, with 15 Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries represented. The majority of studies were conducted in the United States (n = 56) or Canada (n = 13) . Studies encompassed food service (n = 44), grocery (n = 56), and mixed (n = 7) retail settings including cafeterias (n = 24), full service restaurants (n = 18), corner stores and/or grocery stores (n = 19), supermarkets (n = 16), vending machines (n = 13), quick‐service restaurants (n = 13), and cafés (n = 5)…”

“…Six initiatives were retailer‐led, 29 were the result of partnerships, and 41 were researcher‐led, with the remainder government‐, industry‐, or health organization‐led. More than half of the included studies (n = 66) identified one or more business outcomes in the primary aim of the study.…”

“…Retailer perceptions were reported in 20 studies . The most frequently reported retailer perception measures were community stewardship (n = 13) and retailer level of satisfaction with strategy (n = 10) . Some studies additionally described community stewardship as a reinforcing motivator for strategy maintenance as well an outcome .…”

Promoting Healthy Choices in Non-Chain Restaurants

“…In fact, point-of-purchase interventions that use cues such as signage with nutrient information or price manipulation tend to show an increase in the purchase of healthier options (Buttriss et al, 2004; French, Jeffery, Story, Hannan, & Snyder, 1997; Holdsworth & Haslam, 1998; Horgen & Brownell, 2002). In addition, some research shows that most restaurant owners want their restaurant to be viewed as a place where customers can find healthy options (Benson, 1995; Macaskill, Dwyer, Uetrecht, & Dombrow, 2003). …”

Healthy Option Preferences of Rural Restaurant Customers

“…There is some evidence that many restaurant owners want their restaurant to be seen as providing healthy options (Benson, 1995; Macaskill, Dwyer, Uetrecht, & Dombrow, 2003). Research also suggests that programs that promote simple changes to the usual menu offerings may be more acceptable to restaurant owners than those that require posting of nutritional information (Green, Steer, Maluk, Mahaffey, & Muhajarine, 1993).…”