Working with Low Sodium - Shaking Out That Salt.

Despite all that the Food Network, Morgan Spurlock, and the Slow Food movement, has done to improve our understanding of the food/body equation, North Americans are no closer to being healthy. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study showing that nearly 25 percent of American teens have abnormal 'blood lipid' levels - this includes high levels of LDL (the bad) cholesterol and low levels of HDL (the good) cholesterol, along with high levels of trigylcerides which can clog arteries - and that more than 1 billion adults overweight or obese globally. Surprisingly, much of the blame is being laid on those advocating a supposedly 'healthy' diet: Jonny Bowden, PhD, C.N.S, and weight-loss expert claims that it's the low-fat craze that's caused most our 'big' problems. Trying to eliminate edible fats brought on high-fructose corn syrup and partially-hydrogenated oils, leaving consumers with even greater physical fats than ever before.

These days, most people are catching wise to the hype, realizing that it's the false focus on starches and fats that are actually causing the problem and realigning their focus on a more insidious danger...Salt. According to EatRight Ontario, the Government of Ontario's attempt to connect their residents to registered dietitians and better resources for healthy eating, sodium's main purpose is to regulate the water balance and blood pressure in your body. Good in small doses, but eat too much and you dissipate all the water, leaving nothing behind but a sky-high blood pressure. 

The food industry has already started to step away from the ubiquitous shaker. Three years ago, ED Foods introduced Luda H, soup bases and gravies with 78 percent less salt, while at the beginning of this year, New York City unveiled a broad new health initiative encouraging food manufacturers and restaurants to curtail their salt use, and just a few months ago, Subways, Starbucks, Mars Food US and even Unilever agreed to cut the salt in their products by 10 percent over the next two years. 

Still, many restauranteurs have expressed concern over any possible mandatory regulation as it's very difficult to adjust the sodium content without losing flavor and/or general appeal. Sodium reduction has to be done on an ingredient by ingredient basis otherwise you risk an unpalatable product. Best to start voluntarily expanding your seasoning horizons... Lest all governments actually start enforcing a 1000$ penalty such as the one that New York State is considering.

But don't waste your salt on tears! Here's a list of great ways to avoid sodium based on food style and type. Although it's phrased to apply to the consumer, it could also be a great idea source when you sit down to write your menu. 

The Where and Why of Purchasing Ethical Meat - Conscientious Omnivorism as the New Black.

In view of the current Gulf Coast situation (which, by the way, still seems to have no solid solution) it seems like a good time to discuss some sources of protein other than fish.

Once upon a time, not eating meat was the easiest and most obvious way to make a moral food choice: Factory farms are among the most pollutant and inhumane of animal producers. However, as professionals, we can’t possibly eliminate such a profitable, and delicious, item from the menu. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t make ethical choices. Thanks to some conscientious and purposeful purveyors*, green sources for pork, beef, eggs and veal have become increasingly available. Proponents of these farmers argue convincingly that the methods employed do not have the same environmental interactions as industrial production. In addition, not only are these animals being raised humanely with a minimum of methane production, but they are also being raised in a more traditional manner (i.e. grazing on a free-range grassy pasture), resulting in a more complex and exceptionally tasty meat.

Admittedly, these steaks can take a cut out of your budget, but customers are also willing to pay more for moral menu items. San Francisco-based Context Marketing released a study a few months ago demonstrating that nearly 70 percent of U.S. food shoppers are willing to pay more for food that is produced to higher ethical standards. The study also asked respondents to identify which qualities and claims about moral foods were most likely to encourage their being purchased. Over half agreed that humanely raised meat with no supplemental hormones and no antibiotics were very important. In the past, abstaining may have been only way to be sure of making an appropriate dining choice but now even staunch vegetarians are choosing to eat meat in order to help promote ecologically sustainable and humanely-raised choices.

As some of the world’s largest consumers of meat and meat by-products, we food professionals have a strong hand in guiding available options. Support ranchers and farmers who are making wholesome decisions and we can make eating meat the easiest and most obvious way to make a moral choice. Long live the conscientious omnivore!

* Azaluna Brands, currently producing heirloom eggs and mother’s-milk-fed veal, originated as a project for students at Tuft’s University School of Veterinary Science and thanks to Dr. George Saperstein, professor and department chair, has blossomed into a fantastic resource for ethical animal husbandry. Here’s a great interview with the Doctor where he shares his thoughts on meat and morals.

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EDITED TO ADD:  Still no signs of improvement on the Gulf Coast. 

Changing Portion Sizes to leave Guests Happier and Healthier – A Small Bite for a Man, a Large Leap for Mankind.

There’s no doubt about it, people are finally paying more attention to what they’re putting in their mouths. What they’re putting into their mouths and, consequently, into their bodies. Offering healthy (or at least healthier) choices isn’t really an option for the industry anymore. Unfortunately, if you’ll pardon the pun, customers want to both have and eat the cake, which makes transforming an established menu an awkward process. Enter portion control and enter a solution: Offer tiny tastes of your traditional dishes and find that happy medium to satisfy your customers. Mignardise, Amuse-Bouche, Canapé, Oh My!

There are several leaders on this trend: T.G.I.Friday has had amazing results with their “Right Portion – Right Price” menu, now heading into its third year. Fashion Week 2010 in London unveiled an impressive new crop of canapé-centric catering companies, while chefs like Gray Kunz, Wylie Dufresne, Anito Lo and Jean-Georges Vongerichten have always used the tiny taste to test-drive a new composition before committing to it on a menu.

Whether you let your patrons choose to have a dish pared down, or whether you space out smaller dishes with intermezzos and the like, just make sure that you let your customers take their time. No matter the size of the bite, guests who feel as if they have the time to literally pay attention to what they’re putting in their mouths, definitely leave happier.


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Confused by the lingo? Here’s a great summary of their history and definitions.