Menu Metrics
To assist foodservice departments, contractors have developed sophisticated databases and tools to gauge the nature of ingredients and their impact on balanced diets.
By Jamie Popp, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, September 15, 2006
 Sodexho updates its nutrition database monthly, allowing individual schools and districts to download ingredient data electronically.  Syracuse University students can get detailed nutrition information on daily menus from its dining-services Web site before they go to dining halls. |
Consumer interest in healthful eating coupled with operator commitment to nutrition education mean that tracking ingredients and analyzing menus have become complicated—and yet essential—tasks. Calculating calorie counts and fat and vitamin contents of a dish no longer suffices. Nutrition analysis and reporting now goes much deeper, requiring many operators to develop sophisticated databases and online directories of nutrients for all ingredients, according to Deanne Brandstetter, Rye Brook, N.Y.-based director of nutrition for contractor Compass Group.
Compass maintains a central database covering thousands of items, paying close attention to brands, styles, cuts and item variations to avoid inaccurate reporting.
“We’re using the technology centrally because we require that analysis be done by registered dietitians,” she says. “We don’t want unit operators to do the analysis. It would be expensive to have programs for every client location.”
Compass believes the centralized approach also responds more efficiently when manufacturers change product formulations or make additional nutrition data available, which occurred recently when trans-fat information was disclosed for many products. Updating one database makes more sense than trying to keep several current.
“It takes a lot of time to go to every manufacturer and get complete nutrition information,” Brandstetter says.
Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) in Cambridge, Mass., maintains an online link to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), ensuring that nutrition data on commodity food items is accurate and updated. Prepared-foods suppliers, such as a local dessert provider, are required to make available detailed dietary information that can be entered into the university’s database. A nutritionist is working with HUDS this fall to verify recipe details.
“When I build a recipe, I may not include oil [that french fries are fried in], but I still need to know nutritional value of the oil and see how it’s impacting a recipe,” says Elena Laudani, HUDS system administrator.
Sterling (Ill.) School District is one of many systems that uses USDA-approved nutrition-analysis software to audit menus. “We enter our menus and the program analyzes them for us,” says Foodservice Director Linett Sturch.
“Once we have a database of ingredients, the software automatically reviews our menus’ nutrition. At the end of each week, it tells us strengths and weaknesses [of our items] so we can make changes.”
Nutrient-standard menu-planning software is used at the majority of schools served by Gaithersburg, Md.-based contractor Sodexho, according to Pam Watson, its manager of nutrition and wellness education. Sodexho updates its database monthly and individual schools and districts can download ingredient data electronically, rather than wait for updated information on CDs as in the past, Watson says.
Same-day access to the latest data is an asset, but the system requires continual maintenance to be timely. “I get complete nutrition information from manufacturers and check to see if the item and information are in our database. If not, I send the information to a person who does data entry,” she says. “We also have contracts with vendors who have approved items for Sodexho accounts.”
Software that manages changing dietary guidelines and wellness-policy mandates and restrictions is used for more than meal planning. Philadelphia-based Aramark’s Snack Factor database provides school clients a central purchasing portal for stocking food items that meet district, state and federal government nutrition requirements. The tool is updated according to new product availability, pricing, portioning and distribution.
Sterling School District uses Snack Factor, in addition to its other software resources, to identify and purchase healthful items needed to meet balanced-nutritional targets. “Before Snack Factor, I was working closely with vendors to find out what new products were in and their nutrition information,” Sturch says. “Snack Factor is online, so I can order beverages and dry goods. It’s quick and easy and all information is at my fingertips.”
Fairfax County (Va.) Public Schools recently developed its own snack-nutrition calculator based on the state’s recommended standards for à la carte items.
“Last year I had to manually enter these calculations when I implemented the new [wellness policy] standards and it was very time consuming,” says Penny McConnell, director of food and nutrition services and a registered dietitian. “Now, I will put it on our Web site for use by students and teachers in their classroom nutrition-education activities and parents can use it at home.”
Public Display of Nutrition
Calculating calories according to ingredients and portion size is only one part of the total balanced-nutrition equation, Compass Group’s Brandstetter says. Linking a database’s ingredient analysis with point-of-sale technology or Web sites can yield more detailed and useful information for students and parents.
“Technology allows us to connect [our database] with a cash register so you can accumulate nutrition information for a meal immediately,” she says. “It’s possible to give customers cash register receipts with calorie counts for meals purchased.”
Sodexho’s system can be set up so that diabetic children can get an estimate of the number of carbohydrates in a meal. Parents also can monitor what their children eat because school foodservice managers can access nutrition information. Allergy data soon will be available as well.
“Allergies are a big issue. We’re working now to enhance our technology to generate allergen-alert reports for unit managers so they can know if a recipe has soy or any of eight other identified allergens,” Watson says.
Net Nutrition
The Alexandria, Va.-based School Nutrition Association recently introduced 8- to 15-year-olds to Whyville, a Web-based virtual cafeteria designed to get kids thinking about what constitutes a healthful meal. As residents of Whyville, students learn about meal planning for breakfast, lunch and dinner through educational activities ranging from math to art. Online discussions encourage students to engage in dialogue about their meals.
Virtual meal planning works with older students as well. Harvard University Dining Services’ (HUDS) database of nutrition information has been available online since 2003. Three years ago, the system was designed predominantly for diners with allergies. Today, students can log into HUDS’ Web site, pick items they’re going to eat that day and know exactly what the nutritional value will be for each meal.
“They select items they want to eat with portion sizes,” says Elena Laudani, HUDS system administrator. “After all items are selected they can build a report with 20 different nutritive values for the overall meal.”
Philadelphia-based Aramark is introducing college students across the country to CampusDish, which uses Web sites, walk-up kiosks and podcasts to provide dining-hall details including menus, nutrition information and healthy eating options. The CampusDish Web portal is being accessed at more than 160 campuses Aramark serves.
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