Each January Worlds of Healthy Flavors brings together top nutrition researchers, influential corporate chefs, world cuisines experts, the media, and other influencers to discuss opportunities for presenting American consumers with a wider range of healthy menu options.
Worlds of Healthy Flavors builds on fifteen years of initiatives at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone that have made the techniques and flavor dynamics of cuisines from the Mediterranean and Asia to Latin America more accessible to American foodservice. Traditions from these world cuisines—especially the abundant use of plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and whole grains—form the basis for creating more healthful menu offerings that are flavorful and craveable.
The sixth annual Worlds of Healthy Flavors leadership retreat focused on presenting information from a variety of experts from different fields in an effort to help the volume foodservice industry address some of the major nutrition and health issues affecting public health in the United States—obesity, carbohydrate quality, and sodium.
OBESITY
More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight and obese, and the numbers keep getting worse. Reducing caloric intake overtime can help consumers maintain their weight or lose weight. While only 25 percent of meals are eaten away from home, volume foodservice operators can play a leadership role in the effort to reverse this trend. Providing nutrition and calorie information on menus, providing options for smaller portion sizes, and providing a greater variety of reduced calorie menu items are all steps operators can take.
When asked what issue they could move forward on most quickly during a survey at the end of the retreat, offering more options for portion sizes and caloric intake was the top response. Nearly one-third of the operators in the room (31%) said they can move quickly in this area.
One culinary strategy for reducing calories is using more fruits and vegetables in menu development. Nearly one-half of operators (44%) reported that increasing produce usage ranks as a high priority in their operations, but 45 percent said customer demand is their biggest barrier to using more produce. Chef Joyce Goldstein presented a Modified Caesar Salad recipe that used pureed cannellini beans in place of eggs and some of the olive oil to reduce the calories by 26 percent. This is an example of using fruits and vegetables to reduce calories while also creating a product this is incredibly flavorful and appealing, as confirmed by retreat attendees who tasted this item on the Friday lunch buffet.
CARBOHYDRATE QUALITY
Much of the carbohydrate-rich foods and beverages featured on American menus are high glycemic load foods, which means the carbohydrate in them is easily digested and converted to blood sugar. High glycemic load diets are associated with a number of health issues, including increased risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Culinary strategies to address and improve carbohydrate quality on American menus focused on:
- Using whole grains in place of refined grains. Aaron Clanton from the American Institute of Baking presented information on opportunities for volume foodservice operations to include more whole grains in baked goods, and Christine Lafave-Grace from Restaurants & Institutions presented information the various types of whole grain rice being used in a variety of foodservice operations in the U.S.
- Provide a greater variety of beverages with less added sugar. Lilian Cheung of the Harvard School of Public Health led the audience through a tasting of four commercially-available beverages that meet the Harvard beverage guideline of no more than 1 gram of sugar per ounce of liquid.
SODIUM
The daily sodium intake of the average American (3500 mg) far exceeds recommended intake (<2400 mg). The vast majority (>75%) of sodium in the American diet comes from processed and restaurant foods. Blood pressure is related to sodium intake; the higher a person’s sodium intake, the higher his or her blood pressure will be. And because elevated blood pressure is associated with increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and other chronic diseases that contribute significantly to healthcare costs in the U.S., reducing sodium intake is a major public health issue.
An audience survey conducted at the end of the retreat showed that, of all the public health challenges facing the volume foodservice industry today, sodium is the biggest challenge for operators. Nearly half the operators in the audience (45%) said reducing the sodium content of their menu items is their biggest challenge. But with a solid body of evidence showing the benefits of reducing dietary sodium, and regulatory pressure increasing, the restaurant industry needs to find ways to overcome this challenge. A presentation by Douglas Balentine of Unilever showed that the manufacturing community is ready to respond to this challenge with a variety of reduced sodium products available for their foodservice (and retail) customers.
 Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH Nutrition, Public Health, and Foodservice: What We've Achieved, Where Should We Focus Next, and What's Ahead in Terms of Regulations and Policy? 1.41 MB |
 Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH Obesity in America: What are Americans eating... and not eating... and how does this affect their health? 718 KB |
 Sonia Angell, MD, MPH 2000 Calories a Day is All Most Adults Should Eat 354 KB |
 Lilian Cheung, D.Sc., R.D. A Market Scan of Better Beverages: Options for Volume Foodservice 1.55 MB |
 Dawn Sweeny From Nutrition Labeling to Increased Produce Consumption: Charting Health & New Directions for America's Restaurants 259 KB |
 David Ludwig, MD, PhD Carbohydrate Quality and Overweight Americans: The Metabolic Consequences of Highly Refined, Quickly Absorbed Carbohydrates 2.52 MB |
 Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D. Dr.P.H. Fats, Oils, and American Menus: What Does the Science Say About Fats & Oils in the Diet 1.41 MB |
 Aaron Clanton Whole Grains in American Bakeries: What's Happening? What's Possible? 1.57 MB |
 Walter C. Willett, MD, DrPH Key points from talk on fat/saturated fat 349 KB |
 Sonia Angell, MD, MPH The National Salt Reduction Initiative: A Voluntary Framework to Reduce Population Sodium Intake 1.0 MB |
 Lisa Feldman The Balanced Way Program: Making Healthy Eating Simple & Delicious For You! 4.45 MB |
 Lilian Cheung Nutrition Facts and Fallacies: Where Consumers Get Their Nutrition and Health Information and How They Interpret It 236 KB |
 Lawrence Kushi, ScD The Plant-Based Diets of Asian, Latin America, and the Mediterranean: How Diets Rich in Plant- Based Foods Promote Good Health 2.86 MB |
 Lawrence Appel, MD, MPH Sodium and Health: Reassessing the Public Health Challenge and Strategies for Change 1.20 MB |
 Eric B. Rimm, ScD Carbohydrates, Protein, and Fat: What Matters More? The Diet or Diet Quality? 427 KB |
 Dr. Douglas Balentine The Sodium Reduction Journey: Less Salt, more Vitality 1.33 MB |
 Christopher S. Gatto C.E.C Uno Chicago Grill: Changing The Menu of an Iconic Brand 4.16 MB |
