Galway heart and stroke charity Croí has recently commenced piloting a user-friendly menu labelling system to help customers choose healthy menu options in restaurants.
The programme dispenses with calorie counting, which Croi believes is not the solution to healthy eating, but instead labels food according to their nutritional value.
The Healthy Ways Menu Awards scheme comprises five different categories; Blood pressure friendly; cholesterol friendly; diabetic friendly; weight friendly, and healthiest heart award. The programme has already been trialled across 10 restaurants in Galway and the west of Ireland and the reaction has been positive both from customers and restaurant owners.
Croí dietitian Claire Kerins says while calorie counting is helpful, it can be misleading.
“With cardiovascular disease remaining the number one cause of death in Ireland, consumers do need to be making healthier food choices. However, when choosing heart-healthy foods, the nutritional breakdown (fat, sugar, salt and fibre ) is more important than the calorie content. In fact, calories can be misleading. All fats are high in calories, but bad fats increase cholesterol and the risk of certain diseases, while good fats protect the heart and support overall health.”
The Croí initiative has been endorsed by the western branch of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, chaired by Fergus O’Halloran of the Twelve Restaurant, Barna.
“Croí’s approach to education, health promotion, lifestyle and behaviour change is a great, positive way to address dietary or health concerns in a very real way. Having the Healthy Ways Award icons on our menus is a way of drawing people’s attention to nutrition and to their health, as well as providing our customers who need it with the reassurance that this is food that is good for them," Mr O’Halloran says.
"Counting calories on menus isn’t the way to promote good health – using great produce and pointing out the nutritional and health benefits of each dish is much more effective, so that our customers are educated on blood pressure friendly foods, diabetic friendly foods, cholesterol friendly foods etc. As chair person of the Western Branch of The Restaurants Association of Ireland, I whole heartedly endorse this wonderful initiative which is a win-win for both restaurateurs and their health conscious guests.’’
For information on the ‘Croí Healthy Ways Menu Awards programme, contact Annie Costelloe 091-893500 or email [email protected]
