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Why Parents Love Menu Labeling

April 19, 2011 by Betsy Craig — pres, menutrinfo.com

Why Parents Love Menu Labeling

Being a parent is not always easy, as anyone who has kids can attest. Every age brings its unique joys, but also challenges. From the sleepless nights of the newborn to the rebellious phases of the teenager, parents need all the help they can get to make choices that are right for their children.

Increasingly, parents are seeking as much information as possible when it comes to food and nutrition. Menu labeling is one way to make their lives much easier and it looks like, thanks to the FDA it is almost here for most.

From medical necessity to personal beliefs, here are some of the most common reasons that parents would want to know exactly what’s in their kids’ food:

Food Allergies in Children

Having a child who suffers from food allergies can be terrifying for a parent. The severity of food allergies can range from life threatening to merely inconvenient, but regardless it is a reason for parents to be vigilant about what their children eat. Having the information available so that parents can know exactly which ingredients are used in menu items can be a big selling point for them to visit one restaurant over another.

Rising Rate of Obesity / Diabetes

It’s a fact that childhood obesity rates are on the rise as well as diabetes. Knowing the calories counts of various menu items as well as things like fat content can enable parents to help their children make the best choices about what to eat. For children who suffer from diabetes, it is important for parents to find foods that will create a balanced meal for their child. Presenting healthy options in a fun and tasty way will win restaurants big points with parents who are concerned about obesity or diabetes in their children.

Concerns about Food Production

Many parents are increasingly concerned about how the food their children eat is produced. Some choose only organic fruits and vegetables due to concerns about herbicide and pesticide use, while others try to avoid giving their children meat or dairy that was produced with the use of antibiotics or growth hormones. Still others are uncertain about the implications of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their children’s food. While it may be impractical to take all of these concerns into consideration when preparing a menu or menu-labeling resource (restaurants may simply not know), the more information you can give customers (including parents) about the food on the menu, the better.

Personal / Religious Beliefs

Some folks are vegetarian and vegan for political / personal reasons, others have certain dietary restrictions based on religious practices. It is always a good idea to make sure to have a list of ANY menu items that contain meat or dairy, no matter how small the amount or how inconsequential it may seem to you. Case in point: some vegans don’t eat honey. So it’s a good practice to always have complete ingredient lists available for everything on the menu.

About Betsy Craig

To date MenuTrinfo is responsible for menu nutritional information at over 100K US restaurants, food allergy and gluten free ANAB accredited training for hundreds of thousands of food service professionals. AllerTrain is the chosen food allergy training by NEHA providing continuing educational credit hours for those that take and pass its course. Finally, MenuTrinfo delivers food allergy confidence and allergen transparency to today’s food allergic consumer through its onsite division offerings, AllerCheck, Certified Free From allergens for spaces and food products which is an ISO 17065 certification and expert consultation and incident response support when needed.

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