People open a restaurant for lots of different reasons. Some have a passion for food and believe their obsession for serving exceptionally high quality food will drive their sales, profit and success. Others create unique menu offerings they think will give them a completive advantage.

One thing that we’ve learned about success in the restaurant business – it isn’t about the food. Not even close.

To prove it, just think about where you go when you want to have a really good meal or celebrate an anniversary or other special occasion.

Who’s thinking about McDonald’s? Answer: Nobody.

McDonald’s doesn’t serve good food. Their fry’s are okay but there are tens of thousands of other restaurants that make a better burger.

They key to McDonald’s success is not their food but in how they do business. And how does McDonald’s do business, one word – consistently. McDonald’s is uncompromising and fanatical when it comes to consistency.

Sure food quality matters and yes, McDonald’s is an effective marketer but here’s our point. One extremely important ingredient in any restaurant’s success is being able to put food on the plate to each and every customer the same way every single time.

The mother of consistency is systems. Having some level of systems to ensure that your food is sourced, prepped, portioned, cooked and served the same way every time regardless of what employees are in the kitchen is the only way to have a shot at creating food that looks and tastes the same today, tomorrow and three weeks from now.

Consistency produces predictability and predictability is why customers return. They come back because the expectation is that they’ll get the same type of food and experience they had the last time.

Want more customers to come back more often? Borrow a page from McDonalds, make your food more consistent and the experience more predictable with better systems.

Portion sizes are something consumers battle with the most, and trying not to overeat is a difficult task for many, but a new study suggests that our dinnerware, both size and color, could be a key factor in changing how much we consume.

The study from Georgia Tech, Plate Size and Color Suggestibility, found that color contrast between our food and the plate has a huge impact on actual consumption. If the food is a similar color to the plate, people will serve and eat about 22% more than if the colors of the food and plate contrast. In a previous study, the researchers linked plate size to serving size. When attempting to serve a specific portion, those with bigger plates often serve more, while those with small plates serve less. To boot, when a plate and the food on it are the same color, the effect is exaggerated.

Consumer tip? Use big plates for salad and smaller plates for the main course, but don’t forget to go light on the creamy salad dressing.

Another study from the journal, Appetite, found that eating from a red plate could help prevent overeating. Serving up meals on red plates or drinking from red cups cut consumption by about 40%, according to the study.  Researchers say the color red may discourage overeating, because it is commonly associated with the idea of “danger and stop.”

Start these habits early – another study recently released and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that feeding kids smaller portions of the main dish at lunch means they’ll eat more fruit and vegetables offered on the side and fewer total calories.

Researchers from Penn State University served 17 kids six different variations of the same meal, one day each week for lunch. The meals had anywhere from less than half a cup (about 145 calories) to more than a cup and a half (about 390 calories) of mac and cheese (the main dish) as well as green beans and unsweetened applesauce, plus a whole grain roll and milk. Researchers found that the bigger the entrée size served, the less of the healthy side dishes kids ate and vice versa. Kids also consumed less calories overall when served a smaller entrée portion.

Encourage consumers to be more aware of portion size by using contrasting plates and serving on smaller dishes.

Scott Hume, Special to R&I — Restaurants and Institutions, 3/1/2009
In R&I’s 2009 New American Diner study, more than 70% of consumers who say the economic decline has affected their dining habits mention cutting back on dessert as a change they’ve made.

The last course is the easiest to pass up for diners who are watching their spending. In R&I’s 2009 New American Diner study, more than 70% of consumers who say the economic decline has affected their dining habits mention cutting back on dessert as a change they’ve made.

In the best of times, encouraging people to “leave room for dessert” is enough of a challenge, say pastry chefs. Tight pocketbooks raise the hurdle a little higher. “It’s a challenge now, but it’s winnable,” says Patti Dellamonica-Bauler, pastry chef at Lark Creek Restaurant Group’s One Market Restaurant in San Francisco. “You simply have to offer a compelling reason for guests to spend that extra money.”

Here are a few proven tactics that can help diners give in (as they want to) when the server arrives with a dessert tray.
Fun For Less

Big Bowl, the eight-unit chain owned by Chicago-based Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, has built a following for its creative Chinese and Thai dishes, but few diners think of it for its dessert options.

When Big Bowl President Dan McGowan set out to change that perception with a new dessert menu, he wanted final courses that would be in sync with Big Bowl’s entrée flavors yet also fun and attractively priced. If dessert has been losing favor, McGowan believes, it’s because choices have become too serious, elaborate and costly. “I wanted things that were Asian-influenced but also recognizable,” he says.

The desserts, created by Chef Jessie Oloroso, offer variety and uniform pricing ($3.95 each). There is a double-chocolate brownie with toasted-coconut ice cream, a banana-cashew egg roll served with a dark-chocolate dipping sauce, and a chai crème brûlée.

“There’s been a tendency in our business to let prices go to $8, $10 or more,” he says. “If I am ordering a pot pie for $11 as my meal, adding an $8 dessert doesn’t make sense.”
Get Comfortable

Diners’ hesitation to drop a few extra dollars on dessert isn’t the only obstacle ambitious pastry chefs are facing. Budgetary caution can also mean culinary caution, with guests being less willing to embrace new tastes.

Jonathan St. Hilaire, pastry chef at Trois in Atlanta, says he has re-evaluated the balance between familiar and more-whimsical desserts in recent months. A preponderance of exotic choices simply gives frugal customers more reason to close a meal with an unaccompanied coffee.

“Are diners as adventuresome as they were a year or so ago? Maybe not,” St. Hilaire says. “As things are now, people do not want to make new discoveries.”

However, a too-familiar dessert doesn’t encourage them to make the leap either, he says. As a result, he is trying to “stick with flavors and combinations that I know people like while also trying to give those flavor profiles a modern look or twist so that they’re intriguing.”

Apple-pecan pie à la mode with apple-cider reduction and pistachio crème brûlée are recent Trois offerings that strike that balance. And, of course, there’s always chocolate, which is well-represented on Trois’ menu. “You can’t go wrong with chocolate,” he says.
Consumer Price Index

Lark Creek Restaurant Group’s One Market Restaurant in San Francisco has been a popular business-lunch destination since opening in 1993. But businesspeople can be a tough sell for dessert.

No one wants to be the first to order a sweet, says pastry chef Patti Dellamonica-Bauler. “You just need to get the ball rolling, to get one person to order, and then the others at the table are likely to follow,” she says.

Fear of running up a lunch bill that a client or someone else at the table may be paying is a disincentive. To counter it, One Market broadened its price options, developing a section of the dessert menu labeled Singular Sensations. The small treats (five or so bites) can be ordered alone for $5.75 or as a three-choice tasting platter for $15.

“It is insane how successful it has been,” says Dellamonica-Bauler. In fact, the category was added to the dinner dessert menu, too. A mint-chocolate-chip ice-cream sandwich and chocolate-toffee almond crunch cake are almost always offered. Recent choices also have included “pumpkin pie” parfait (maple crème brûlée with pecan streusel) and Meyer lemon cheesecake with huckleberry sauce and candied pistachios.

Additionally, diners can choose from seasonal desserts (such as spicy warm gingerbread with cinnamon-sour-cream ice cream) priced at $10 each or house-made ice cream and sorbets for $8.50 apiece. Together, these categories provide four pricing tiers that help overcome diner reticence about appearing extravagant.
Something To Talk About

Chocolate always can be counted on to pique diners’ interest, and a low price definitely boosts a dessert’s appeal, but nothing sells the final course more consistently than a knowledgeable, well-trained server. At Bastille in Arlington, Va., servers don’t just advise arriving guests to save room for dessert; they whet appetites with descriptions of Pastry Chef Michelle Poteaux-Garbee’s espresso cheesecake with chocolate fudge sauce and cashew brittle and other desserts.

Sales are in the details shared with diners, says Kolin Vazzoler, executive chef at Marché in Menlo Park, Calif. Being sure servers know the elements of desserts as well as they know those of entrées and encouraging them to engage guests rather than simply take orders can help lift sales.

“Every dessert has a story to tell, so let your servers tell them,” Vazzoler says, explaining that understanding the background of a dessert’s creation or its ingredients increases the item’s value as part of an overall dining experience.

Marché’s menu is written daily, but recent dessert choices have included chocolate cheesecake with sour cream; chicory and coffee streusel; and Rangpur lime bombe (shown) with tropical fruit and elderflower. The latter, for example, needn’t be unapproachable if a server explains that it is simply a lime sorbet filled with caramel.
A Simplified Choice

Whether they gravitate to Key Lime Pie Ice Cream Coupe, Warm Chocolate Clafoutis or another finale, diners can satisfy their sweet tooth for $7 at Trois, where all entrées on the Bistro menu are $20 and sides are $8.

Uniform pricing “makes it easier when it comes time to decide,” says St. Hilaire. For dessert especially, he says, the less complicated the decision-making process, the more likely diners are to order.

Marché’s Vazzoler agrees, adding that his $9 price for desserts is likely the ceiling, because double-digit prices have a negative impact on value perceptions.

Including desserts on the main menu lets guests plan a complete meal, St. Hilaire says. “They can decide to share an appetizer, perhaps, and then also get a dessert,” he says. “In this economy, people who are going out want to enjoy everything they can. They want a whole meal, a whole experience.”

Men have traveled, as they have lived, for religion, for wealth, for knowledge, for pleasure, for power and the overthrow of rivals. Yet no very profound acquaintance with Haklut’s book is needed to discern, as he clearly discerned, the single thread of interest running through all these pilgrimages. The discovery of the new Western World followed, as an incidental consequence, from the long struggle of the nations of Europe for commercial supremacy and control of the traffic with the East. In all these dreams of the politicians and merchants, sailors and geographers, who pushed back the limits of the unknown world, there is the same glitter of gold and precious stones, the same odour of far-fetched spices

- Sir Walter Raleigh, 1605

Today when spices cost so little that we can all enjoy little nip of black pepper, or the delicious aroma of cinnamon, ginger or cloves, it seems unbelievable that these fragrant bits of bark, leaves and seeds were once so costly, so hard to track down and transport, that men were willing to risk their lives going to the antipodes, if need be, for a few quintals of nutmegs or piculs of cassia.

The traffic in spices goes back to the days before recorded history. Archeologists estimate that by 50,000 B.C. primitive man had discovered that parts of certain aromatic plants help make food taste better. To reconstruct what may have happened, we can imagine that man was about to cook a piece of meat in an emberlined pit. He saw some leaves and it occurred to him that if he wrapped the meat he could keep it free of grit and ashes He covered the meat with the leaves and left it buried in the hot pit. Later, to his surprise and delight, he found that the leaves had given a new flavor to his meal.

At that moment mankind discovered the art of seasoning.

The weight of young students rests on the shoulders of the nation’s school foodservice programs. Directors view the challenges as opportunities for positive change.

By all measures, Mary Kate Harrison is part of the big league.

“I run an $85 million business,” she says. In many ways that puts Harrison on equal footing with similarly sized chains such as Shula’s Steak House and La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill and way ahead of those with lesser revenues—Pei Wei, Potbelly and Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House among them.
As do industry colleagues, she oversees a grab bag of responsibilities: turning a profit, managing workers, producing at high volume—in her case 240,000 daily meals—and finding new revenue sources. It’s up to her to buy the right equipment, explore technological resources that boost efficiency and keep customers happy through food and service initiatives. To wear all those hats well, “You have to know a lot about a lot of things,” she says.
But in her role—not of chain CEO but as head of the Hillsborough County ( Fla.) Public Schools— Harrison has situations that are unique to school foodservice. Rather than satisfying Wall Street with comp sales increases and year-over-year growth, her returns to major stakeholders include healthier children eating safer, better food.

Business issues fly at school foodservice directors like a volley of loose balls. Urgent concerns of childhood obesity, hiring freezes, food safety, schools’ roles in improving and teaching nutrition, commodity programs, school boards and budgets that either don’t keep pace with costs or that actually shrink have added a complicated layer to basic tasks of feeding school children. To get it all done right, this high-profile industry sector requires tight cost control measures and strong messaging that wins over customers—not just the students but mom and dad as well.

“We have to balance outside pressures with inside issues,” Harrison says, and that can be a struggle. But as taxing as it is for Harrison and other school foodservice directors, they have shown that it can be done by digging in with creativity, determination and out-of-the-box approaches.
Upwards of 29 million students ate school lunch on an average day last year, according to the Washington, D.C.-based Food Research and Action Center’s (FRAC) State of States: 2006 report on nationwide nutrition programs. The government opened its wallet to the tune of $6.8 billion to subsidize districts with students participating in the National School Lunch Program.

Of schools serving lunch, 81% also participated in breakfast programs last year, according to FRAC. That equates to more than $1.8 billion of additional federal funding. But even with federal dollars, most districts still must find ways to build revenue. Vending, catering, à la carte and, in some cases, creative relationships with charter schools and day-care centers are among the avenues being pursued.

In Oklahoma City, for instance, Chartwells School Dining Services manages foodservice in 88 public schools in the district. The Rye Brook, N.Y.-based division of Compass Group now works with nine charter schools there as well, according to Resident District Manager Steve Gallagher.
Changes in nutritional policy for many districts add unexpected stress to budgets. To their chagrin, parents are learning that some of the price increases hit their budget lines.
“A large number of schools raised meal prices in 2003 when they started implementing wellness policies [because fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grain items cost more],” says Erik Peterson, director of public awareness at the School Nutrition Association in Alexandria, Va. Regardless, school lunch is “still the best bargain in town,” Peterson says.
Cents and Sensibilities

At Bartow County Schools in Georgia, the only menu variance between grades is portion size and price. The cost to the district ranges from 75 cents to $1.50 to produce a meal. Entrées are sold for $1.75 at the elementary level and $2.00 at its high schools. Hillsborough Schools charge $2.25 for a meal in its secondary schools and West Contra Costa Unified School District in Richmond, Calif., last year raised prices 50 cents to $2.75.
Students want meals that look and taste like what they can get at the local QSR. They’re partial to pizza, fried chicken and soda—all of which are restricted items in many schools these days.

“From a nutrition perspective, our biggest challenge is getting kids to eat more healthful options or coming up with creative ways to make those items more appealing,” says Cheryl Luckett, Chartwells region dietitian for the Southeast.
To reach those goals, reimbursable meals are being reinvented and then marketed in ways that appeal to students. Districts are mixing premade products and traditional scratch cooking.
“I would venture to say that very few school systems do true scratch cooking,” says Sue Mitchell, director of nutrition services in Bartow County ( Ga.) Schools in Cartersville. “If you want a consistently high-quality product, there are many packaged items that require little more than putting raw ingredients together.” She estimates as many as 65% of the district’s hot entrées are premade.

Cold entrée salads such as its Spicy Spaghetti Salad and leafy green vegetable salads are served in clamshell containers “like you get at Wendy’s or McDonald’s,” she says.
“Larger districts have been [mimicking chain restaurant-style packaging and merchandising] and smaller districts are adopting those techniques,” Peterson says. “Schools are marketing and branding for a consistent look and feel and moving away from cafeterias toward food courts and lounge-style dining.”
School foodservice is a business serving more than students—it requires a community focus.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand the complexities of school foodservice,” Harrison says. “I think people still think it’s a group of volunteer employees who serve food that has all been donated by the government.”

Wellness at a Glance
Beginning July 1, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 requires that all schools with federally funded meals programs must have developed and be actively implementing wellness policies that address nutrition and physical activity. Responsibility for developing programs resides at the local level.
The policy is designed to be a cooperative effort among key constituencies that include students, parents, teachers and school foodservice professionals, each of them invested with responsibility for feeding children nutritionally sound meals and encouraging appropriate levels of physical activity.

Trans Fat Coming to a Label Near You!

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now requires food manufacturers to list trans fat (i.e., trans fatty acids) on Nutrition Facts and some Supplement Facts panels. Scientific evidence shows that consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol raises low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad”) cholesterol levels that increase the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, over 12.5 million Americans suffer from CHD, and more than 500,000 die each year. This makes CHD one of the leading causes of death in the United States today.

FDA has required that saturated fat and dietary cholesterol be listed on the food label since 1993. By adding trans fat on the Nutrition Facts panel (required by January 1, 2006), consumers now know for the first time how much of all three — saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol — are in the foods they choose. Identifying saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol on the food label gives consumers information to make heart-healthy food choices that help them reduce their risk of CHD. This revised label, which includes information on trans fat as well as saturated fat and cholesterol, will be of particular interest to people concerned about high blood cholesterol and heart disease. However, all Americans should be aware of the risk posed by consuming too much saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. But what is trans fat, and how can you limit the amount of this fat in your diet?

What is Trans Fat?
Where will I find trans fat?
Vegetable shortenings, some margarines, crackers, cookies, snack foods, and other foods made with or fried in partially hydrogenated oils.

Unlike other fats, the majority of trans fat is formed when liquid oils are made into solid fats like shortening and hard margarine. However, a small amount of trans fat is found naturally, primarily in some animal-based foods. Essentially, trans fat is made when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil — a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation increases the shelf life and flavor stability of foods containing these fats.

Trans fat, like saturated fat and dietary cholesterol, raises the LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol that increases your risk for CHD. On average, Americans consume 4 to 5 times as much saturated fat as trans fat in their diet.

Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL, trans fat and dietary cholesterol also contribute significantly. Trans fat can often be found in processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as vegetable shortenings, some margarines (especially margarines that are harder), crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, and baked goods.

Are All Fats the Same?

Simply put: no. Fat is a major source of energy for the body and aids in the absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K, and carotenoids. Both animal and plant-derived food products contain fat, and when eaten in moderation, fat is important for proper growth, development, and maintenance of good health. As a food ingredient, fat provides taste, consistency, and stability and helps us feel full. In addition, parents should be aware that fats are an especially important source of calories and nutrients for infants and toddlers (up to 2 years of age), who have the highest energy needs per unit of body weight of any age group.

Saturated and trans fats raise LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol levels in the blood, thereby increasing the risk of heart disease. Dietary cholesterol also contributes to heart disease. Unsaturated fats, such as monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, do not raise LDL cholesterol and are beneficial when consumed in moderation. Therefore, it is advisable to choose foods low in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol as part of a healthful diet.
What Can I Do About Saturated Fat, Trans Fat, and Cholesterol?

When comparing foods, look at the Nutrition Facts panel, and choose the food with the lower amounts of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. Health experts recommend that you keep your intake of these nutrients as low as possible while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet. However, these experts recognize that eliminating these three components entirely from your diet is not practical because they are unavoidable in ordinary diets.
Where Can I Find Trans Fat on the Food Label?

Consumers can find trans fat listed on the Nutrition Facts panel directly under the line for saturated fat.

Why Do Some Products Not Declare Trans Fat On Their Labels?

There may be two reasons why you are not seeing trans fat on a product’s label.

First, products entering interstate commerce on or after January 1, 2006 must be labeled with trans fat. As this is happening, FDA realizes that it will take some time for food products to move through the distribution chain to a store shelf. Thus, it may take a few months for products that are listing trans fat on their label to show up on a store shelf. However, you will see many products with trans fat listed since companies have already begun to declare trans fat on their products’ labels.

Second, FDA has granted enforcement discretion to some firms to use old label stock that do not declare trans fat after the effective date of January 1, 2006. For each request, FDA is considering whether the declared label value for trans fat is 0.5 g or less per serving. This information is important because lower amounts of trans fat would have less impact on public health than higher amounts of trans fat. Thus, trans fat information in the Nutrition Facts panel will be missing on some products (that contain lower amounts of trans fat) throughout the next year.

If trans fat is not declared on the label and you are curious about the trans fat content of a product, contact the manufacturer listed on the label.

How Do Your Choices Stack Up?

With the addition of trans fat to the Nutrition Facts panel, you can review your food choices and see how they stack up. The following labels illustrate total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol content per serving for selected food products.

Don’t assume similar products are the same. Be sure to check the Nutrition Facts panel (NFP) when comparing products because even similar foods can vary in calories, ingredients, nutrients, and the size and number of servings in the package. When buying the same brand product, also check the NFP frequently because ingredients can change at any time and any change could affect the NFP information.

Compare Spreads!*
Keep an eye on Saturated Fat, Trans Fat and Cholesterol! Butter ** Margarine, stick † Margarine, tub †

Saturated Fat : 7g
+ Trans Fat : 0g
Combined Amt.: 7g
Saturated Fat : 2g
+ Trans Fat : 3g
Combined Amt.: 5g Saturated Fat : 1 g
+ Trans Fat : 0.5g
Combined Amt.: 1.5g
Cholesterol: 10 % DV Cholesterol: 0 % DV Cholesterol: 0 % DV

*Nutrient values rounded based on FDA’s nutrition labeling regulations. Calorie and cholesterol content estimated.
**Butter values from FDA Table of Trans Values, 1/30/95.
† Values derived from 2002 USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15.

Compare Desserts!*
Keep an eye on Saturated Fat, Trans Fat and Cholesterol! Granola Bar ± Sandwich Cookies ± Cake, Iced and Filled ±

Saturated Fat : 1 g
+ Trans Fat : 0 g
Combined Amt.: 1 g
Saturated Fat : 1 g
+ Trans Fat : 1.5g
Combined Amt.: 2.5g Saturated Fat : 3.5g
+ Trans Fat : 4.5g
Combined Amt.: 8 g
Cholesterol: 0 % DV Cholesterol: 0 % DV Cholesterol: 3 % DV

*Nutrient values rounded based on FDA’s nutrition labeling regulations.
± Values for total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat were based on the means of analytical data for several food samples from Subramaniam, S., et al., “Trans, Saturated, and Unsaturated Fat in Foods in the United States Prior to Mandatory trans-Fat Labeling,” Lipids 39, 11-18, 2004. Other information and values were derived from food labels in the marketplace.

Compare Snacks!*
Keep an eye on Saturated Fat, Trans Fat and Cholesterol! Frozen Potatoes ±
(e.g., French Fries) Potato Chips ± Mini-Sandwich Crackers ±

Saturated Fat : 1 g
+ Trans Fat : 1.5g
Combined Amt.:2.5g
Saturated Fat : 2g
+ Trans Fat : 0g
Combined Amt.: 2g Saturated Fat : 2g
+ Trans Fat : 2g
Combined Amt.: 4g
Cholesterol: 0 % DV Cholesterol: 0 % DV Cholesterol: 1 % DV

*Nutrient values rounded based on FDA’s nutrition labeling regulations.
± Values for total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat were based on the means of analytical data for several food samples from Subramaniam, S., et al., “Trans, Saturated, and Unsaturated Fat in Foods in the United States Prior to Mandatory trans-Fat Labeling,” Lipids 39, 11-18, 2004. Other information and values were derived from food labels in the marketplace.

How Can I Use the Label to Make Heart-Healthy Food Choices?

The Nutrition Facts panel can help you choose foods lower in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. To lower your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, compare similar foods and choose the food with the lower combined saturated and trans fats and the lower amount of cholesterol.
Do Dietary Supplements Contain Trans Fat?

Would it surprise you to know that some dietary supplements contain trans fat from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil as well as saturated fat or cholesterol? It’s true. As a result of FDA’s new label requirement, if a dietary supplement contains a reportable amount of trans or saturated fat, which is 0.5 gram or more, dietary supplement manufacturers must list the amounts on the Supplement Facts panel. Some dietary supplements that may contain saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol include energy and nutrition bars.
Practical Tips for Consumers!

Here are some practical tips you can use every day to keep your consumption of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol low while consuming a nutritionally adequate diet.

Check the Nutrition Facts panel to compare foods because the serving sizes are generally consistent in similar types of foods. Choose foods lower in saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. For saturated fat and cholesterol, use the Quick Guide to %DV: 5%DV or less is low and 20%DV or more is high. (Remember, there is no %DV for trans fat.)

Choose Alternative Fats. Replace saturated and trans fats in your diet with mono- and polyunsaturated fats. These fats do not raise LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol levels and have health benefits when eaten in moderation.

Choose vegetable oils (except coconut and palm kernel oils) and soft margarines (liquid, tub, or spray) more often because the amounts of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol are lower than the amounts in solid shortenings, hard margarines, and animal fats, including butter.

Consider Fish. Most fish are lower in saturated fat than meat. Some fish, such as mackerel, sardines, and salmon, contain omega-3 fatty acids that are being studied to determine if they offer protection against heart disease.

Choose Lean Meats, such as poultry (without skin, not fried), lean beef and pork (trim visible fat, not fried).

Ask Before You Order When Eating Out. A good tip to remember is to ask which fats are being used in the preparation of your food when eating or ordering out.

Watch Calories. Don’t be fooled! Fats are high in calories. All sources of fat contain 9 calories per gram, making fat the most concentrated source of calories. By comparison, carbohydrates and protein have only 4 calories per gram.
Here are two actions consumers can take to keep their intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol “low”:

• Look at the Nutrition Facts panel when comparing products. Choose foods low in the combined amount of saturated fat and trans fat and low in cholesterol as part of a nutritionally adequate diet.
• When possible, substitute alternative fats that are higher in mono- and polyunsaturated fats like olive oil, canola oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and corn oil.

• It takes 12 lbs. of milk to make just one gallon of ice cream. Wonder how they fit it all in one carton?

• The U.S. enjoys an average of 48 pints of ice cream per person, per year, more than any other country. Maybe we should make ice cream the fifth food group!

• It takes an average of 50 licks to polish off a single-scoop ice cream cone. Challenge your family to a Lick-a-Thon, and see who finishes first!

• The biggest ice cream sundae in history was made in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, in 1988, and weighed in at over 24 tons. You can’t order that in an ice cream parlor!

• In 2003, Portland, Oregon bought more ice cream per person than any other U.S. city. Looks like everyone else has a lot of catching up to do!

• The ice cream cone’s invention is linked to the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. An ice cream vendor reportedly didn’t have enough dishes to keep up with the demand, so he teamed up with a waffle vendor who rolled his waffles into cones!

Courtesy of icecream.com