STRATEGIC PARTNERS
The growing trend of restaurants eliminating artificial ingredients such as preservatives, additives, sweeteners and food coloring from their menus has been a positive step towards advocating for consumer health, according to MenuTrinfo
October 27, 2015
The growing trend of restaurants eliminating artificial ingredients such as preservatives, additives, sweeteners and food coloring from their menus has been a positive step towards advocating for consumer health, according to MenuTrinfo, which helps foodservice operators protect their customers by meeting or exceeding new nutritional labeling regulations as required by law and by partnering with restaurants to provide safe products and procedures that meet a wide range of dietary restrictions.
"We have seen this strong trend in first identifying allergens, then GMOs and now it has made a rapid push toward identifying ingredients that are clean, i.e. without additives or artificial ingredients. It is a tough job to do this task properly but thanks to our leading technology we can handle it and produce these free-from lists for our nutritional partner clients. It drives home my personal mantra that food is health care while medicine is sick-care," said Betsy Craig, MenuTrinfo founder and CEO.
Larger chains such as Noodles and Company and Panera Bread have taken measures to provide transparent menu items. Local and regional restaurants are also following suit, according to a company press release, including MenuTrinfo’s client Smiling Moose Rocky Mountain Deli, a fast casual restaurant with 18 restaurant locations across seven states. Working with several chefs and conducting a full nutritional analysis, the restaurant chain created a new menu consisting of bold flavors and fresh ingredients that will roll out by the end of the year, the release stated.
"Fresh ingredients and bold flavors have always been a priority for us," said Sue Daggett, president of Smiling Moose Rocky Mountain Deli. "Our new menu now offers guests a wider variety of gluten-free and vegetarian options and our fresh baked baguettes used for our signature hot sandwiches have always been free of artificial preservatives. While our focus continues to be on hearty and adventurous offerings, our new menu now offers nearly 20 options that are under 600 calories — all a part of our ongoing effort to offer guests a wide variety of options."
