Healthy Menu Criteria
- Use only natural food colors
- No preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or ‘modified’ fat sources.
- Dairy should be hormone and antibiotics free. Organic is the best choice.
- Offer fresh, local produce, whenever possible organic.
- Meats and poultry should be from vegetarian feeds and humanely raised on Sustainable U.S. Family Farms and Ranches and should always be free of nitrates, hormones and antibiotics.
- Offer olive oil as a dip for bread, serve butter upon request or as an alternative.
- Use salt sparsely; bring out the natural flavor of foods. Many children like interesting spices.
- Offer deep-fried choices rarely; instead, offer baked options
- Serve water; offer juices without added sugars, fresh squeezed is a hit.
We also like the initiative that the City of San Francisco via Supervisor Mar has proposed:
Under the proposed legislation, restaurants in San Francisco would not be allowed to provide an “incentive item,” such as toys, trading cards or admission tickets, linked to the purchase of an individual menu item or meal that includes: (editor’s note: why not put the toy into the healthy meal?)
— More than 200 calories for a single item or more than 600 calories for a meal. (A typical fast food hamburger has at least 250 calories, according to McDonald’s and Burger King nutritional websites.)
— More than 480 milligrams of sodium for a single item or 640 milligrams for a meal. (A typical fast-food hamburger has 520 milligrams of sodium.)
— More than 35 percent of its calories derived from fat, unless the fat is contained in nuts, seeds or nut butters, or from a packaged egg or packaged low-fat or reduced-fat cheese.
— More than 10 percent of its calories derived from saturated fats, with the exception of nuts, seeds, packaged eggs or packaged low-fat or reduced-fat cheese.
Other requirements:
— Meals must include at least a half-cup of fruit and three-quarters of a cup of vegetables.
— A beverage may not have more than 35 percent of its calories fat-based or more than 10 percent of its calories sugar-based.