On The Menu's leading dietitian and co-founder, Rebekah Spetnagel, MSS, RD offers consumers 8 tips for eating healthy at restaurants. As a dietitian and consultant to the restaurant industry, Ms. Spetnagel has extensive experience in understanding the calories and nutrients in restaurant food. Her suggestions include, reading an online menu in advance to visiting a restaurant, understanding the caloric values reported, skipping the bread, drinks and desserts, making smart meal choices and asking ... Full Article
Archives for 2015
Labeling Variable and Combination Menu Items
One of the trickier parts of the FDA’s menu labeling regulations is labeling variable and combination menu items. The details can be confusing, but we hope to clarify the regulations in order help you correctly post calories on the menu. As a starting place you'll want to understand FDA definitions for labeling variable and combination menu items. Variable Menu Items When a menu lists flavors or varieties of an entire individual variable menu item the calories must be declared separately for ... Full Article
Fundamentals for Food Product Success
The Markets Division of the Colorado Department of Agriculture will be hosting a new one-day workshop Fundamentals for Food Product Success. The workshop is developed exclusively for start-up businesses and individuals considering a path into the food product industry. Rebekah Spetnagel, MSS, RD and Julie Bush, MBA founders of On The Menu, will be speaking on Nutrition Labeling at 9:45am. The workshop is being held on April 28, 2015 from 8am to 4pm at the Community College of Aurora. The cost is ... Full Article
FDA Menu Labeling Key Terms and Definitions
Restaurants across the nation are scrambling to understand the new FDA menu labeling laws and learn what they need to do to be compliant by December 1, 2015. On The Menu is positioned to help restaurants comply with the laws. We believe understanding some of the FDA menu labeling key terms and definitions lays the ground work for navigating the regulations. We’ve hand-picked a few terms that might be useful for your restaurant establishment to know. Menu or Menu Board Primary Writing Menus and ... Full Article
