Justification of Nutritional Value Display on Menus for Food Restaurants - Essay Example

Report on Justification of Nutritional Value display on menus for Food Restaurants Transmittal Letter The members of the Food and Drug Association committee on Healthy eating From: concerned consumer’s association committee Date: March 14, 2013 Subject: Justification of the Display of Nutritional value of Foods on Menus in Big Restaurants Enclosed with this letter is a full report on the recommendations that the nutritional value of the food sold on chain restaurant should be displayed on the menus. The recommendations are based on facts and hence very ideal for any action that would see this effect being implemented. The recommendations and advocacy of the ideology presented is in two forms whereby first it is recommended that the chain restaurants to provide all the necessary required information of the food value they produce and display the figures on menus. Secondly, the small and medium restaurants are invited to embrace the change though expensive in some way. Government assistance is called upon to ensure all the stakeholders in this sector have compliant in totality as this will help the population which is time caught up to have an easy time by having to take balanced diets just at a look of the menus. We believe that this report offers the best recommendations which will see a positive overhaul in the fast food sector of these chain restaurants. This will go along way into leaving with the mission and vision of a healthy society under the basis of preventive and not curative measures. On any queries where you need clarification you can always contact our office which is open for you. We believe together we can achieve incredibly. Table of Contents Page Transmittal Letter 2 Table of Contents 3 Executive Summary 4 Introduction 5 Problem Statement 5 Methods used in the Research Process 6 What the Research Found 6 Analysis of the Findings 7 Conclusion and Recommendations 7 References 9 Executive Summary This report is mainly a consumer initiated to determine whether the value of the money they use in buying foods from the chain restaurant is worth what they finally get. The report aims mainly at giving some justifications which goes a long way in ensuring that all the leading chain restaurants do give the nutritional value of the food they are selling on the menus. This is a direct implication the client will have a sole decision as to which kind of food he should eat. The justification once ready they are submitted to the Food and Drug association for implementation. The report involves a scrutiny on all the chain restaurants businesses which have over 20 branches nationwide. This is with a firm believe that these restaurants have the greatest share of the food market in the united states of America and taking control of the food industry at their level is managing what the Americans eat. This has been propelled by the fact that modern people want easy readymade food for take away. Small restaurants have not been left out but they were also checked to find out the efforts they were inputting in seeing the dream of safe food for all come true. Several methods where put in place to see that the whole process turns out to be a great success. Basically, observation was fundamental whereby the visits to these restaurants was part and parcel of the whole process. Experiments were also done on the samples taken and interviews together with the reference to the internet were quite handy. In conclusion, it was found that only calorie nutrients were displayed on menus of the chain restaurants and no more efforts as to whether the customers were paying attention to the numbers or not. Small restaurants were observed not to be making any attempts in following the suit as they were exempted. A recommendation to increase more nutritional values like water and other natural minerals was recommended. Encouragement to lure in small restaurant in the process was also made and this would ensure that the whole market is covered with safe guideline. Introduction This report is mainly advocating for the enforcement of the display of the nutritional value of the foods which are offered in the restaurant. With the increasing technological advancements, there have been changes which are taking place on the daily basis and more in the food sector. For this cause it is recommendable that restaurants follow the suit by communicating the value of the food in terms of the nutrients present. This report has the following areas; The Transmittal Letter The executive summary Introduction Problem Statement Methods employed Findings Recommendations Conclusion List of references used With increased cases of carelessness on the quality of food eaten by people of the modern world, there is a dear need to offer information that can be relied upon. This report offers a way of tackling this problem which is to have restaurants display all the nutritional value of the foods they sell to people. The methods used and all other details of this report all well outlined in their specific section. In the search for the purpose of this report, only large restaurants that have the capability of meeting the cost of this service were taken into consideration and thus this defines the scope of the research and hence the report. This is mainly because the small restaurants may be financially constraint by this regulation. In addition, possibility of incorporating other food selling agencies and the medium restaurants is also featured. The information and details found in this report is accurate and hence very reliable for implementation of a major decision that would see major relief in the body health. The facts presented offer the best opportunity to take a step in the decision concerning this issue of fair information on value of food eaten in restaurants. Problem Statement Technology has taken up everything, food sector being inclusive too. With the daily tight schedules that face a modern man, time has become so scarce that even to prepare a well thought meal at home has been problematic. The rescue has been the chain restaurants that offer fast ready food. If these restaurants lack control then they might implicate effects of malnutrition to millions of Americans who rely on them. For this course, there is the problem of labeling the foods sold by these restaurants that on their menu display they should indicate the nutritional value of the food they sell. The purpose of this report is to evaluate the true state of this matter and offer guidelines that will ensure effectiveness in full implementation of displaying nutritional value on menus for restaurants by making justified recommendations. Methods Used in the Research Process A number of methods were used in the collection of the information that was needed very for the purpose of this research and hence report. First and foremost was the actual visitation of all the target restaurants. While at these restaurants, pretence as a normal client was carried out and a chance to interview the restaurant management and other staffs was also done. The interviews also went a long to include the clients of the different restaurants visited. The internet played also a key role as a gathering point for information from other places of interest worldwide. This was achieved through access to different online portal points of the different restaurants across the world. Access of key literature regarding the food regulation was accessed on the internet (Wootan & Osborn, 2006). For this reason, the report’s applicability is also universal. In addition to the above two methods, visits to different food testing agencies was also part of the avenue used to get in touch with professionals in the food industry and interview them. The samples taken from different restaurants were also experimentally tested to ascertain the value stated. Books and journals especially the ones that relate to food in restaurants and healthy eating habits were also read to have a close correlation between what the restaurants are offering the market and what ought to be offered to equate value for money. This was also graced by observation of all the places which were visited and insightful objective judgments made concerning some places that were visited as far as food services were concerned. The methods used i.e. interviews, experiments, observation, reading and internet were important in the way that they would not arouse any ill feelings on the stakeholders involved in this practice. They also ensured that what was being sought was realized in the most convenient way and time being a major factor was aimed at being saved and these methods helped achieve this. What the Research Found The study realized a number of things concerning the food and the restaurants that sell these foods. Something which was noted with a lot of concern was that most major food restaurants had taken steps into indicating the calories one consumes on a given food and this led more questions to why calories and not other food stuffs. This question was posed to the management of a restaurant whose name has been withheld for this report due to matters pertaining privacy and the response which this operations managers gave was because only that was what was provided for by the law. The manager went ahead to agree that if the law demanded for more they would still reveal more but as per the current status that has to be the situation. On attempts to confirm the words of the manger, an interview was organized and a senior officer from the Food and Drugs Association was interviewed. This further confirmed that as per the current status restaurants were to indicate the level of the calories which were on the foods they were offering. Other nutrients were not a must to reveal and nearly all the restaurants visited did not bother themselves to indicate more than what the law demanded. Our observation revealed that only major restaurants were displaying the amount of calories which was present in the food they were selling (Roberto, Agnew & Brownell, 2009). Inquest to find out how this is done, we interviewed an junior employee in a certain restaurant( name of the employee and restaurant withheld) who said that the measurements are done by professionals who gave a guideline on amount to be served for a certain amount of calories to be bought by the client. Though there was a periodical inspection to ascertain consistence, the employee revealed that there were no daily supervision of the measurements. We took a certain package to the Food and Drugs Association where it was experimented to determine the nutritional value. The results varied though they were within allowable limits. Different samples from several large restaurants which had the same practice were taken and experimented too. The results were fairly the same on average. The internet revealed something quite different that is other in some parts of the world. Mostly in third world countries, this phenomenon has not yet started. There was no country which had full enhancement of the total nutritional value display but some developed nations had indicators that that was the place they were heading to (Reeves, Wake & Zick, 2011). Most healthy eating magazines were pouring out their cries that let not only calories be revealed but also the total nutritional value of the food on sale. Analysis of the Findings It is true that the law of our land only pushes the restaurants to display only the calories composition of what they sell to the public. Directly this implies that if compelled to go beyond this then they can go without hesitation though cost increase is an issue which would directly be transmitted to the clients. The law was mandatory on line of labeling of calories content by these large restaurants not because they only influential by commanding a big market but because they were in a position to meet the cost effectively. For this reason, all small restaurants are not obligated to meet the requirement though they can still go ahead and display the nutritional value if in a position to do so. The effectiveness of the data which is on the labels has also been on question (Stein, 2010). Though the necessary agencies on food quality have been on guard, its accuracy has been varying as was observed. In Manhattan where this practice of labeling is well established accuracy of the calorie content which should be 2000 units is not a point of major concern but to the struggling regions the case of disparity may be observed and hence what being stated is not actually what is being consumed by the client. Included in this labeling business are the vending machine services which also have to follow the same suit. If the labeling is not on the package of the product then it must be indicated somewhere where the client will not strain to get access of. Conclusion and Recommendations Standardization is something which was of concern through all the places visited. This is mainly because whatever is calorie need for one person is not what the need for another is. Though the these restaurants where using an average of 2000 units of calories for the meal they were selling, this could cause concerns with sporty and other energy needing people claiming that its little while it is much on those who are in less demanding energies. A provision is thus recommended that this quantities to be varied accordingly to the needs of the different category of people. This is something which is achievable. Some people seemed unaware of the nutrition content or if they were aware they paid little attention to the real importance. With the increasing healthcare costs, healthy eating habits should be advocated and it is expression of this report that thorough public awareness on healthy eating is done. This will thus go along in validating all the healthy eating bills and policies that have been established from the national level to the local governments. Other food nutritional value should also be made available. Though calorie consumption is the ingredient which has major effects in the body, other nutritional value of the food should also be provided. This is mainly because the world today is evolving at an alarming rate in all walks of life and hence even eating habit needs a close monitoring with this one being one of effective ways. It is effective because many people are turning to fast foods from these restaurants and if the government does not provide a mechanism to ensure that its people are eating only what is important, then people might be victims of malnutrition. Let the level of water, the amount of minerals, proteins present and even vitamins be clearly indicated that when the client makes a decision, the decision will be fully informative. References Stein, K. (2010). Nutrition beyond the numbers: counseling clients on nutrient value interpretation. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 110(12), 1800-1803 Reeves, S., Wake, Y., & Zick, A. (2011). Nutrition labeling and portion size information on children’s menus in fast-food and table-service chain restaurants in London, UK. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 43(6), 543-7 Roberto, C. A., Agnew, H., & Brownell, K. D. (2009). An observational study of consumers’ accessing of nutrition information in chain restaurants. American Journal of Public Health, 99(5), 820-821 Wootan, M. G., & Osborn, M. (2006). Availability of nutrition information from chain restaurants in the United States. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30(3), 266-268 Read More