You may have heard the simplistic advice to dine out less often if you want to weigh less. It’s true that restaurant portion sizes can tip the scales and dishes are often gussied up with more cheese, butter, oil and salt than you might use in home cooking. But, sounding the alarm to avoid eating out in an effort to improve nutrition habits is like telling people to leave their cars in the garage if they want to avoid getting into an automobile accident.

To improve highway safety we need driver’s education. The same goes for safely navigating a restaurant menu. We need more diners’ education!

Restaurant Road Rules:

1. Map Out Menu Choices: Read the menu and listen carefully when servers list the specials. Check out the menu online to help you plan a safe route. Nicole Jones, who founded a dinner club group that meets once a month to dine out in Atlanta restaurants says, “We always scan the menu ahead of time so when we arrive everyone knows that they might want. I’m a planner and if I want to splurge on a dessert I pick my appetizer more carefully. I even ask the waiter to bring the dessert menu before I order my entrée!” I met Jones and her group of foodie friends at Pricci in Buckhead where she enjoyed the mussels and tiramisu.

2. Signal Your Intentions: Be specific about what you want or don’t want. For example, ‘Can you lightly brush the fish with butter?’ or ‘Ask the chef not to salt my food.’ Jones, whose dinner club has visited 35 restaurants in 3 years, observes,
“Every restaurant we’ve been to has diet friendly recommendations which are just as tasty.”

3. Be Aware of Surroundings. Remember where you are. Ask for balsamic vinegar in an Italian place and rice wine vinegar in a Japanese place to add non-fat flavor to foods. Béarnaise sauce at steak houses often arrives in a huge gravy boat, best kept way on the side. But, if the sauce is a light swirl and part of the chef’s creative gourmet vision, enjoy it the way it’s intended to be. Jones’ reviews, “Whether on the lamb chops or mussels, each sauce at Pricci was delicious and distinctively different.”

4. Dine Defensively. Be honest when the waiter asks you how you like your meal. Don’t suffer in silence. They want to work fast to make you happy. Heck, the raspberry vinaigrette meant for the salad might even be the best request to add flavor to a grilled chicken breast. Eating out can be a taste adventure, “I like to try things I’ve never had before,” says Jones.

5. Use Your Mirrors. Check out the Room. Look around and see what other diners are eating so you get a visual on portion sizes. Way too large? Split the entrée or plan to box up half for carry-out. Spying on other tables will also let you see that the entrée “served with spring greens” is either a sizable serving of salad or a disappointing wisp of lettuce garnish. Take special note of road hazards. Jones admits the freshly baked bread served with marinara and warm goat cheese at Pricci was “Hard to resist!”

6. Highway Etiquette: Oh Waiter! Make eye contact, smile and appreciate your server. It’s just human nature--waiters are likely to spend more time at friendly tables. Tip for good service when the server goes to the mat for your special order request. They’re not doing it for their health-even if you are! Let them know they’ll be rewarded ahead of time by saying, “If you help us eat a little less… we’ll tip you a little more.” Smaller hips, bigger tips!!

7. Enjoy the ride! Make dining out a special occasion and enjoy the conversation as much as the cuisine. Jones formed her dinner club to make new friends when she moved to Atlanta from Houston in 2007, “There are 22 ladies on the roster and we’re moving beyond the table to include white water rafting trips and ski vacations, too.” Next stop for Jones’ dinner club is Capital Grille in November. Watch the béarnaise sauce ladies. There’s great cheesecake for dessert.

Food Expert Carolyn O’Neil on Gulf Seafood

Food Expert Carolyn O’Neil on Gulf Seafood

Nutrition at your fingertips

TMI. Too much information can be frustrating thing no matter what the topic.
Calorie counts on menu items can certainly help dieters quickly decide between the chicken fried steak and grilled chicken. But, a lengthy list of nutrition facts can be mind numbing when charts downloaded on smart phones or from restaurant websites reel off everything from cholesterol and fiber to vitamin and mineral content. What was I having for lunch again? Can’t someone just telling which choice is better for me? Well, that depends. Are you looking for a burger or pizza? And do you care more about calories or sodium?
Providing choices within categories and putting them into perspective is what Usable Health kiosks aim to do for restaurant diners with an eye on their diet and health. Here’s how it would work. Say you’re at Chic-Fil-A and you’re watching your sodium intake. Punch in chicken sandwich and the kiosk would reveal you can save 250 milligrams of sodium by swapping the fried chicken sandwich for the char grilled. Care about calories? The kiosk would alert you to swap the McChicken sandwich for a hamburger and save 110 calories. Right now, Atlanta based Usable Health, has interactive kiosks placed in the midtown location of Atlanta restaurant chain, Tin Drum.
Chad Bonner, co-founder of Usable Health says, “People are loving the experience and we’re tracking over 150 individual orders per day.” The health-based menu ordering service developed by Georgia Tech researchers prompts customers to select personal health goals including management of diabetes, blood pressure or weight. Then the kiosk suggests a customized menu. Bonner predicts technological support of menu guidance will be even more in demand as regulations take effect requiring restaurants, airport food outlets and even vending machines to provide nutrition information, “We’re really excited about taking this to the next step of personalization including more detailed health information and food preferences.” Currently, users can sign up on usablehealth.com to create a profile and be a part of this growing company’s consumer research. While we wait for more technology to help translate nutrition numbers into healthy menu choices, here are some word clues to help you cut calories by decoding common menu terms.
Fat by any other name
Aioli-mayonnaise with garlic
Au Gratin- topped with cheese, butter and breadcrumb mixture
Beurre--butter’s French name
Bisque-most often a cream based soup
Béarnaise--watch the “-aise,” which indicates egg based mayonnaise
Crispy-code word for fried!
Crusted or Encrusted--coated with nuts, bread crumbs or potato, pan fried until crispy

Leaning toward leaner….
Au Jus--pan juices often reduced with no fat added
Braise--slow cooked to tenderize meats or fish, often little added fat
Broth-fragrant water based sauce with infused flavors ie. chicken & lemongrass broth
Coulis--all hail the coulis, often a no-fat-added puree of vegetables or fruit
Primavera – Italian for “spring”; indicates vegetables are major ingredient
Provencale- South-of-France style sauce with tomato and other vegetables


Ask Questions If It Says:
Grilled--watch out for butter or oil slathered on during grilling
Roasted--watch out for extra fat used in roasting, ie.butter basted
Poached--not always in water, watch out for poached in oil or butter
Sautéed -- butter or oil are used, chefs can limit amount if asked
Steamed- watch out for butter or oil added after the steaming

White House Chefs Enjoy Gulf Seafood

There’s a gulf of misunderstanding about the safety of seafood being harvested from the Gulf of Mexico. “When I tell them the shrimp is from Louisiana or anywhere in the Gulf a lot of customers just walk away,” shared seafood clerk, James Dicus, at Whole Foods Market in Buckhead, “They don’t understand it’s OK to eat it or it wouldn’t be here in our seafood case.” Nationwide, demand is down due to consumer concerns about potential contamination from the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, but the official word from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency as well as state and university based scientists who are monitoring the situation is that fish and shellfish harvested from areas reopened or never affected by the oil spill closures show no trace of oil or dispersants and are safe to eat. Seafood safety researcher, Professor John W. Bell of Louisiana State University says tests range from detailed laboratory analysis of samples to organoleptic ‘sniff tests’ conducted by highly trained investigators to detect the presence of oil, “It’s amazing how they can pick up even the faintest hint.”

“It’s never been more stringently tested,” says Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration during a recent visit to New Orleans where I joined her for a lunch of Louisiana Shrimp Po Boy sandwiches, “We have put in place with our partners at NOAA, EPA as well as state officials and seafood experts a vigorous sampling plan from the water to the docks to the marketplace.”
White House Chefs Eat Gulf Seafood
In an effort to shore up consumer confidence and help support the livelihood of thousands of fishermen and seafood companies in dozens of communities along the Gulf coast, a dozen restaurant chefs from across the country led by White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford and her assistant chef Tafari Campbell joined the FDA commissioner for a fish fact finding mission in Louisiana. “This is very, very good seafood,” said Comerford digging into steamed crab dockside at Pontchartrain Blue Crab in Slidell, “All the scientists are doing everything they can to ensure whatever comes to the market is good for public consumption. It tastes good and it’s safe what more do you need to know?”


The group went out on shrimp boats, visited a crab processing facility and dropped in to dine at several New Orleans restaurants serving Gulf seafood including Chef John Besh’s August Restaurant. Besh, who been an outspoken defender of his state’s embattled seafood industry since Hurricane Katrina’s tragic blows, continues to use his visibility to help, “This is personal for me. I am concerned about the long lasting effects on salt marsh estuaries but the monitoring of seafood now has never been this extreme and having chefs from The White House dine here is great!”
One of the chefs in the group, Jeff Tunks of Acadiana in Washington, DC says, “I get a lot of questions from customers. I’m here to learn more because they trust me to serve the best and safest seafood. I’m even more confident now, too.”

In Atlanta, chef owner Kevin Rathbun or Rathbun’s continues to offer gulf seafood on his menu for great taste and good will, “We can never turn our backs when someone is down. We’re supporting the good people of the Gulf coast.” Meanwhile, Jamshad Zarnegar owner of The Last Resort Grill in Athens continues to buy Gulf shrimp because, “My customers don’t seem concerned.” Maybe folks are smarter in a University town.

A Tale of Two Servings

One of my favorite diet quotes is from the late Oscar winning writer, actor and director Orson Welles who apparently wrestled with the concept of proper portion control, “My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four, unless there are three other people there.”
Size matters. If weight control is your goal then portion control is the key. According to a survey done by the Calorie Control Council, 84% of dieters say they eat smaller portions of their favorite foods to control their weight. But, what does “portion control” mean anyway? Are we doomed to a life of postage stamp sized servings and forever banned from buffets?
The terms "portion" and "serving" don't mean the same thing. A "portion" is the amount you choose for meals or snacks - such as a platter of ribs or big tumbler of orange juice. In comparison a "serving" is the amount nutrition experts recommend we eat – such as 3 to 4 ounces of meat or 6 ounces of fruit juice. Controlling portions starts with understanding how many servings of each kind of food you should have a day based on your total caloric needs.
Cutting Portion Control Down to Size:

1. A portion is not the same thing as a serving. Did you know that the typical 5 ounce deli bagel contains about the same calories as five slices of bread? If you know you should only be eating 6-9 (one ounce) servings of grains per day then you can see that the bagel is taking a big bite out of your budget. Your portion of pasta at a restaurant may be three cups of linguini piled on one plate, but that counts as six grain servings.

2. You can eat more than one serving. A serving of meat may be 3 to 4 ounces or the size of a deck of cards, but the portion of steak on your plate can be two decks of cards depending on your total caloric needs. The US dietary guidelines recommend healthy adults consume a minimum of 6 ounces of meat or other protein food per day.

3. A serving of butter is the same as a serving of olive oil. Olive oil may be a healthier fat than butter, but it contains the same number of calories per teaspoon serving.

4. Cooked weights may be lower than ounces quoted on the menu. This is good news. Restaurants list raw weight of meats on the menu. An 8 ounce filet mignon will shrink when grilled, often by twenty-five percent, so the cooked portion is actually 6 ounces.

5. You get more of some foods than others so pump up the volume.
One grain serving: ¾ cup pretzels vs. 5 mini rice cakes vs. 3 cups plain popcorn
One fruit serving: ¼ cup of dried fruit vs. 6 ounces of juice vs.1 cup fresh fruit
One vegetable serving: ½ cup green peas vs.1 cup cooked broccoli vs. 2 cups raw cucumber
One dairy serving: 1 ½ ounces of hard cheese vs. 4 ounces low fat cottage cheese vs. 8 ounces low fat yogurt
One meat serving: 3 ounces of chicken vs. 6 ounces of cooked lentils

6. Visualize This. To judge measurements keep these shapes in mind.
Meat or Poultry: 3 ounces = deck of cards
Pasta or rice, cooked: 1 cup = 1 baseball
Hard cheese: 1 ounce = 4 dice
Pancake/waffle: 4 inch = diameter of a CD
Potato or sweet potato: 1 potato = computer mouse
Nuts, dried fruit, granola: ¼ cup = golf ball

A girl walks into a bar, a restaurant, a donut shop....

Whether it's a bar or a bank of vending machines, proposed new FDA rules will require many eateries and drinkeries to post the calorie cost of food and drink.

Let’s start with a waist whittling word problem. If someone who usually gets a small order of fries and a large sweet tea at McDonald’s wants to skip one to lighten their lunch, which would cut the most calories? Answer: it’s a wash. According to nutrition facts posted on the company’s website they each contain 230 calories. The point is that it’s not easy to guess the amount of calories in menu items. A study by Healthy Eating Research at the University of Minnesota found that people tend to get calorie counts wrong most of the time. For instance, when a restaurant dish sounded “healthy”, such as a Chef’s Salad (930 calories) 90 percent underestimated the calories. That’s why many health professionals and now politicians want to see more nutrition labeling on restaurant menus.

Uncle Sam’s Menu Plan

Authorized by the healthcare legislation passed earlier this year, the U.S Food and Drug Administration recently released a draft of guidelines to require that calorie information be posted on menus and menu boards by restaurants and other food stores with 20 or more locations and vending machine operators with 20 or more machines. “Knowledge is power,” says Atlanta registered dietitian Marisa Moore, “Having nutrition information available for foods eaten away from home is critical to help make healthy choices.” Moore, a spokesperson for The American Dietetic Association, believes the new federal menu labeling requirement would help, “They will allow you to play detective less often. I’ve used online nutrition facts for years to help clients make healthy choices away from home. It’s helpful to see the 150 calorie difference between the grilled vs. fried chicken sandwich before you ever have a chance to taste it.” The new rule also requires that additional nutrition information on fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrate, sugar, fiber and protein be made available upon request.
Will It Help?

Americans consume about a third of their calories from food prepared away from home so restaurant meals do offer a significant opportunity to provide a “teachable moment” in nutrition education. Moore explains, “Having nutrition information on hand allows you opt for one instead of two slices of cheese, skip the sauce, use less salad dressing or opt for a lower calorie offering.” Studies conducted in California and New York City, where restaurant labeling is already required, found that point-of-purchase nutrition facts may result in the selection of healthier meals. Women tend to use the information more than men. Many major chain restaurants and health focused eateries already voluntarily provide menu nutrition facts on websites and some right on the menu, but new federal guidelines aim to offer a standardized format so that diners can more easily compare apples to apples or apple pie to apple pie. Even with those suggested improvements- it’s complicated.

-What Might Be Missing- Pay close attention to how the menu item is defined. It’s not uncommon for restaurants to list nutrition information for sandwiches without including cheese, mayo and special sauces. Entrée Salads may not include calories in the salad dressing you add later. Moore says, “Obviously these add significant calories, fat and sodium to the total.”
- The Fudge Factor - Keep in mind that the nutrition information may not be perfect. There’s a proposed +/- 20% margin of error allowance. This accounts for the human influence in preparation and variations in product composition, analysis methods and databases. For instance, a cook may decide to add a little more salt or butter to a recipe.
-Your Calorie Cap - Moore says, “In order to use nutrition facts effectively, you need to have a general idea about how many total calories you need to determine how a specific menu choice will fit into your day.” A recent survey found that just 1 of every 8 American adults (12%) knows about how many calories they need in a day. To get an idea about your calorie needs, check out www.mypyramid.gov.

Eggs-actly!

If you like your eggs sunny side up with the yolk a little runny you’re a gambler. Raw and undercooked eggs have been on the watch list of foods potentially contaminated with salmonella bacteria and other bad bugs that cause food poisoning for years. But, this month’s nationwide recall of shell eggs suspected to be the source of a recent four-fold spike in the number of Salmonella Enteritidis infections has raised the red flag even higher. While no cases of Salmonella Enteritidis have yet been reported in Georgia, the state is included in the recall.
“No sunny side up eggs anymore,” says noted food safety expert Missy Cody, PhD RD, professor emeritus Georgia State University, “Or undercooked scrambled eggs, unless they’re made with a pasteurized egg product.” When eggs are pasteurized, they are heated to a temperature high enough to kill bacteria. So, pasteurized products such as frozen and liquid eggs are safe to consume even when undercooked or used raw in making ice cream or hollandaise sauce, for instance.
Since, eggs are among the most nutritious and economical foods on the menu; here’s a half dozen tips to help you safely enjoy those delicious dozens.
1. Keep eggs refrigerated at all times. Cody cautions, “And beware of breakfast places that keep raw eggs near the hot griddle. The heat will make salmonella which may be in the eggs grow much faster.” Do not keep eggs warm or at room temperature for more than 2 hours.
2. Avoid restaurant dishes made with raw or undercooked, unpasteurized eggs. Restaurants should use pasteurized eggs in any recipe (such as Hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise or Caesar salad dressing) that may call for raw eggs.
3. Avoid eating raw eggs. No matter how tempting, avoid licking the cake batter off the spoon! Make sure shell eggs used in baked goods or casseroles are thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Meringue-topped pies and soufflés should be baked at 350 degrees F for at least 15 minutes.
4. Sunny side up not a bright idea. Whether boiled, poached or fried; eggs should be cooked until both the white and the yolk are firm and eaten promptly after cooking. Undercooked egg whites and yolks have been associated with outbreaks of Salmonella Enteritidis infections.
5. You can’t judge a “good egg”. Contaminated eggs will not smell, look or taste any different from normal eggs. However, always discard cracked or dirty eggs.
6. Some are at higher risk for food poisoning. Eating raw or undercooked eggs should be avoided by young children, pregnant women, elderly and those with weakened immune systems due to serious illness. Good timing-September is The National Restaurant Association’s National Food Safety Education Month. The 2010 theme is High Risk Customers: Serve Your Fare with Extra Care.”
Sources: www.foodsafety.gov and www.cdc.gov