Decreasing calories, fat and sodium in restaurant meals for widespread industry a

描述(申请人提供)：与营养有关的疾病(超重/肥胖、癌症、糖尿病、心脏病等)的流行情况。在美国人中是有广泛记录的。在过去的二十年里，外出就餐的频率有所增加，目前美国人平均每周吃五到六次餐馆准备的食物。与在家准备的食物相比，餐馆的食物往往含有更多的卡路里、总脂肪、饱和脂肪和钠。旨在解决上述情况的传统努力侧重于鼓励消费者尽量减少外出就餐和/或指导用餐者确定和选择更健康的菜单选项，这些方法充满挑战。相反，这里提出的“默认策略”方法试图测试修改标准餐厅食谱的可行性，以减少奶酪、油、黄油、蛋黄酱、沙拉酱等，达到餐厅顾客不能察觉和/或可以接受的程度。这些修改将导致卡路里、脂肪、饱和脂肪和钠的水平相应降低。拟议方法的好处是，餐厅消费者将从改进的烹调方法中受益，而不必了解营养知识或有动力做出更健康的选择。消费者甚至不需要采取任何具体的行动就能受益。相反，这种方式有赖于餐厅的参与和合作。这种方法对餐馆的吸引力包括：(1)更低的食物成本；(2)由于菜单立法要求更多的餐馆披露其菜单项目的营养价值，餐馆对改善营养状况更感兴趣。餐厅厨师和RandD团队将与健康餐饮合作，修改并测试修改后的食谱。健康餐饮是一家总部位于加州的公司，在餐厅营养方面有近20年的经验。在第一阶段，第三阶段 餐饮公司参与确定了该项目的可行性。测试的几种成分成功地降低了12%到25%，消费者认为是可以接受的。在第二阶段，这项研究将(1)扩大至研究更多食肆改装更多食肆膳食的效果，包括特别准备的沙拉、三明治、汉堡、汤、意大利面菜肴和涂了大量黄油的配菜；(2)研究如何在小规模至中等程度的配料改装时提高量度准确度；(3)计算成功改装后所带来的营养改善，以及为食肆节省的成本，以及估计饮食业若采用改装后对公众健康的影响。如果这种方法被发现是成功的，健康餐饮将与全国餐饮协会合作，向全国各地的连锁餐厅宣传“默认策略”的有效性。 与公共卫生相关：肥胖和营养不良是美国十大主要死亡原因(癌症、心脏病、中风和糖尿病)中的四大原因，每年估计造成2000亿美元的医疗费用。美国人每周吃四到五次餐馆烹调的食物，加上餐馆的饭菜往往不那么健康，而且比家里准备的饭菜更多，这些都是上述健康问题的重要原因。因此，餐馆提供和推广更健康的饮食对整体公众健康越来越重要。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The prevalence of nutrition-related conditions (overweight/obesity, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, etc.) among Americans is widely documented. During the last twenty years, the frequency of dining out has increased, with Americans currently eating restaurant-prepared foods an average of five to six times per week. Compared to meals prepared at home, restaurant fare tends to contain more calories, total fat, saturated fat, and sodium. Conventional efforts aimed at addressing the situation described above have focused on encouraging consumers to minimize eating out and/or guiding diners in identifying and selecting healthier menu options, approaches fraught with challenges. Instead, the "default strategy" approach proposed here seeks to test the feasibility of modifying standard restaurant recipes to include less cheese, oil, butter, mayonnaise, salad dressings, etc., to a degree that is not detected and/or is acceptable to restaurant customers. The modifications will result in corresponding reductions in the levels of calories, fat, saturated fat, and sodium. The advantage of the proposed approach is that restaurant consumers will benefit from the modified preparation methods without having to be knowledgeable about nutrition or motivated to make healthier choices. The consumer does not even need to take any specific action to benefit. Instead, this approach relies on the participation and cooperation of restaurants. The appeal of this approach to restaurants includes (1) lower food costs, and (2) the fact that, as menu legislation is requiring more restaurants to reveal nutrient values for their menu items, there is more interest by restaurants to improve the nutrition profiles. Restaurant chefs and RandD teams will work with HEALTHY DINING, a California-based company with nearly two decades' experience in restaurant nutrition, to revise and then test modified recipes. During Phase I, three restaurant companies participated in establishing feasibility for the project. Several ingredients tested were successfully reduced by 12 to 25 percent and found to be acceptable to consumers. During Phase II, the research will (1) expand to examine the effect of modifying more restaurant meals from more restaurants, specifically prepared salads, sandwiches, burgers, soups, pasta dishes, and heavily buttered side dishes; (2) investigate ways to improve measurement accuracy when small-to- moderate ingredient modifications are made (3) calculate nutrition improvement achieved by the successful modification as well as cost savings to the restaurants and estimated impact on public health if adopted by the restaurant industry. If this approach is found to be successful, HEALTHY DINING will collaborate with the National Restaurant Association to publicize the effectiveness of the "default strategies" to restaurant chains throughout the nation. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Obesity and poor nutrition contribute significantly to four of the ten leading causes of death in the United States (cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes) and cost an estimated $200 billion in health care costs each year. The fact that Americans are eating restaurant-prepared foods four to five times per week, along with the fact that restaurant meals tend to be less healthful and larger than meals prepared at home, contribute significantly to the health problems stated above. Therefore, it is increasingly important for overall public health that restaurants provide and promote healthier meals.