Pamphlet with Your Pasta?
Excerpt By Lauren Weber, Reuters Health

Consumers wondering how much fat is in the fettuccine Alfredo they ordered will soon find that information easier to come by.

Restaurant goers, concerned about obesity and other health issues, want to know what's in their meals, and restaurants are starting to accommodate them with brochures, Web sites and waiters armed with information.

Nutrition breakdowns are required for packaged foods, but it's relatively new for restaurants. And it's not just about keeping customers happy, say some in the food industry; it's also about being ahead of the curve on a wave of laws that would require nutrition labeling at restaurants.

"They're hoping it won't be a law, but they're also feeling pressure from consumers," said Ann Diesen, the sales manager at Minneapolis-based Medallion Labs, which offers nutrient analysis and has seen rising interest from restaurateurs.

According to the National Restaurant Association, four state legislatures -- Maine, New York, Texas and California -- are considering labeling requirements for chain restaurants. "And I bet there'll be at least 20 bills next year," the NRA's chief lobbyist, Lee Culpepper, said in a speech on Saturday at the NRA trade show in Chicago.

Big chains like McDonald's have provided this information for years, through brochures and Web sites, partly in response to criticism about the high fat and calorie content of their foods.

Other chains are positioning themselves as concerned purveyors of good-for-you meals. Olive Garden, a unit of Darden Restaurants Inc., offers a "Garden Fare" menu, with nutritional breakdown available in a pamphlet.

'DEMAND OUT THERE'

Now smaller chains are getting in on the trend. Max & Erma's Restaurants Inc., a Columbus, Ohio-based chain with 85 units, offers four "no guilt" items. A tear-off sheet details nutritional content.

"There's demand out there, from guests on strict diets and those who are trying to eat healthier," Rob Lindeman, vice president of franchising, said.

At Pasta Pomodoro, a California-based chain part-owned by Wendy's International Inc., waiters are receiving more queries about calorie content, according to Rodney Morris, director of training and human resources.

The company is figuring out how to meet that need. "We know we have to move in that direction," Morris said.

But nutrient analysis can be a complex, expensive process. At Medallion Labs, a workup costs about $658 per menu item.

It's not a pretty process: a few servings of eggplant parmigiana, for example, get sent out to a laboratory to be blended up, sampled and analyzed for things like fat, carbohydrate, protein and calorie content.

If restaurants are required to do the testing, it will open up a vast market for food technology labs like Medallion and Q Laboratories, Covance Inc. and Silliker, which traditionally offer those services to packaged food companies.

"Restaurants know the consumer is more knowledgeable about food and health. They want to see what's in the products," said Mark Goins, director of marketing at Cincinnati, Ohio-based Q Laboratories.

Diets have also become more specialized, he said. "There's low-carb, low-fat. People also want to know about allergens."

Nutrition labeling is nothing new. Almost all packaged foods have to list things like sodium, fat, and protein since Congress passed the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act in 1990. But restaurants were exempted from the law.

Even as they move toward nutrient testing, restaurateurs argue that it's harder for them to provide the information since both chefs and patrons customize meals -- adding extra salt here and there, or ordering salad with more dressing. The NRA opposes labeling laws, saying they are impractical.

"Looking for quick fixes like labeling can be very problematic," Steven Anderson, CEO of the National Restaurant Association, told Reuters.

But restaurants can use that information to stand out from the competition, Goins said. "The more you know about your product, the better a salesman you are."

Medallion, a division of General Mills Inc. has gotten inquiries from both chains and independent restaurants. At this point, it's mainly been questions, not contracts.

"They want to know what the costs are, what's involved. A lot of restaurants are talking about it," Diesen said.

Reference Source 89

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