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Gastronomy represents one of the main defining national cultural elements and is essential for shaping territorial identities and for tourism development, attracting both domestic and international tourists. The landscape in the center of Bucharest has gradually changed under the influence of entrepreneurial initiatives within the hospitality industry, showing at present a rather cosmopolitan urban environment. Despite the significant number of international catering units, better adapted to global tastes, Romanian-themed restaurants represent a landmark of the capital city. In this context, our study focuses on the Romanian authentic local gastronomy offered by the themed traditional restaurants in the center of Bucharest as a stimulating factor for different types of consumers. Aiming to answer several research questions, this research has a complex multi-fold methodological approach, appealing to triangulation which gathered, as main analytic methods, mapping, semantic analyses, and text visualisation, and the interview method (originally and appropriately applied for this case study to experienced employees). The main results show a complex gastronomic landscape that gathers various types of restaurants but outlines those with a Romanian ethnic theme in the center of Bucharest. The study of Romanian restaurants' menus reveals elements of authenticity (e.g., traditional dishes and their regional denominations, local rural ingredients, old recipes, and cuisine techniques) as factors of attractiveness for consumers and as competitive advantages in their market. Moreover, interviews with staff representatives outline restaurants' atmosphere, originality, and price–quality ratio of their food as the main attractive elements for both autochtonous customers and tourists and which offer an advantage in the market. The present study may interest multiple stakeholders, focusing on the development and evolution of the hospitality industry in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tourism & Management Studies is the property of Escola Superior de Gestao, Hotelaria e Turismo, Universidade do Algarve and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research examines the policy strategy for developing tilapia marketing in Soppeng district. Marketing development is needed to achieve equal distribution of profits from the tilapia business for marketing institutions. The PPA was carried out through a meeting of coastal area management planning experts, as part of the development of tilapia marketing. PPA aims to involve stakeholders to produce identification and definition of key variables, definition of future state variables, scenario building, and formulation of strategies and anticipated actions. The FGD results obtained 6 variables with the highest scores, namely consumer understanding, digital marketing, market demand, government support, distribution and supply chain, sustainable marketing. In this context, the participants created implementation strategies and anticipatory actions, (1) Providing education to people who will become consumers about the importance of consuming fish that is rich in nutrients; (2) digitizing tilapia fish business actors; (3) Pay attention to and record the stock and demand for Tilapia fish; (4) paying more attention to business actors (fishermen and fish farmers) as a measure for regional food security; (5) Providing opportunities and supporting the Tilapia distribution and supply chain (6) Creating a fisheries system from raw materials, then processing them carefully so that no waste is left, then creating a culinary village program containing fishing spots for consumers and restaurants with a fisheries menu. The strategic implications and anticipatory actions above are stakeholder needs that can be met through intervention in various determining variables in Tilapia Marketing Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an Augmented Reality-based Android framework that will assist restaurants in providing better service to their customers. It provides the users with features such as 3D view of the food item, description containing the origin of the dish and recipe along with calorie information and price. When the application is launched, category wise menu will pop up, the user will have to choose the desired category and the food items in that category will be in displayed for them to view. An android smartphone or tablet can be used to find more 3D dishes on your table. Calorie labeling on menu will assist patrons in making educated and healthy food and snack choices. Calories will be described on the menu, allowing customers to better understand their choices and making it easier to eat healthily when dining. So that whenever a new user visits that restaurant, all details regarding the dish can be viewed. The application was designed with an aim to help users to visualize the dish that they crave for by implementing 3D models of food items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Federal law requires calorie information on chain restaurant menus. We sought to assess the prevalence of calorie disclosures on online menus and determine if the menus are controlled by restaurants subject to US labelling requirements. Design: Cross-sectional Setting: Restaurant websites and mobile apps for restaurant located in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston Participants: US chain restaurants (top seventy-five by number of outlets) and third-party platforms (TPP): Grubhub, Uber Eats, DoorDash Results: There was at least one calorie disclosure (for at least one food or beverage, in at least one location) on sixty-eight of seventy-two (94 %) menus on restaurant websites or apps, thirty-two of fifty-five (58 %) menus on DoorDash, six of forty-nine (12 %) menus on Grubhub and thirty of fifty-nine (51 %) menus on Uber Eats. There was consistent calorie labelling (all foods and beverages, all locations) on forty-three of seventy-two (60 %) menus on restaurant websites or apps, fifteen of fifty-five (27 %) menus on DoorDash, three of forty-nine (6 %) menus on Grubhub and eleven of fifty-nine (19 %) menus on Uber Eats. Only four restaurant chains consistently labelled calories for all items, in all locations, on all platforms where their menus were found. All three TPP provided restaurants the ability to enter and modify menu items, making the menus subject to US labelling requirements. Only Uber Eats provided guidance to restaurants on entering calorie information. Conclusions: As consumers increasingly rely on TPP for restaurant ordering, menus on these platforms should include calories in order to promote transparency and nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Location-Based Services are often used to find proximal Points of Interest (PoIs)—e.g., nearby restaurants and museums, police stations, hospitals, etc.—in a plethora of applications. An important recently addressed variant of the problem not only considers the distance/proximity aspect, but also desires semantically diverse locations in the answer-set. For instance, rather than picking several close-by attractions with similar features—e.g., restaurants with similar menus; museums with similar art exhibitions—a tourist may be more interested in a result set that could potentially provide more diverse types of experiences, for as long as they are within an acceptable distance from a given (current) location. Towards that goal, in this work we propose a novel approach to efficiently retrieve a path that will maximize the semantic diversity of the visited PoIs that are within distance limits along a given road network. Our approach allows to specify both a start and terminal location to return a (non-necessarily shortest) path that maximizes diversity rather than only minimizing travel cost, thus providing ample applications in tourist route recommendation systems. We introduce a novel indexing structure—the Diversity Aggregated R-tree, based on which we devise efficient algorithms to generate the answer-set—i.e., the recommended locations among a set of given PoIs—relying on a greedy searching strategy. Our experimental evaluations conducted on real datasets demonstrate the benefits of the proposed methodology over the baseline alternative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Food aesthetics influences affective dimensions (valence and arousal) and subsequent emotional and behavioural responses in images presented in more traditional form, almost rustic in some cases, to the signature dishes of haute cuisine. However, the visual impact of images of haute cuisine dishes on consumers' affective and emotional responses compared to traditional dishes is still understudied. Methods: We recorded electrodermal activity, ocular movements and self-report affect of 35 volunteers while they performed a picture viewing paradigm using images of haute cuisine food, traditional food, and non-food. Additionally, the moderating role of age was examined. Results: Our results showed that subjects had higher feelings of pleasure and arousal toward images of food (haute cuisine and traditional dishes) compared to non-food images. However, no difference in self-report affect, physiological and behavioural responses was found between haute cuisine and traditional dishes. Interestingly, a moderating effect of age was revealed, reporting that younger participants had greater feelings of pleasure and shorter eye-to-screen distance towards traditional food than haute cuisine. Conclusions: As a whole, our findings suggest that food aesthetics could at least partially affect consumers' affective and emotional responses. Interestingly, physiological responses to food pictures seemed to be relatively independent of approach/avoidance motivational states, supporting the assumption that traditional visual restaurant menus with attractive images might be insufficient for eliciting intense positive emotions. This study also contributes to advancing the understanding of the role that age plays in emotional impact when images of haute cuisine dishes are presented to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restaurant menu calorie labeling is regarded as a promising, cost-effective, and innovative method that will have an impact on the food environment, raise awareness among consumers, and aid in global efforts to prevent obesity. This study aimed to assess the public's calorie literacy, dining practices, and perceived effectiveness of restaurant menu labeling implementation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A descriptive, web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 1279 adults in the UAE. Socio-demographic characteristics, calorie literacy, and perceived effectiveness of restaurant menu labeling among participants were investigated. Chi-square analysis was used to compare indicators across demographic characteristics. More females than males completed the online survey, (56.1% and 43.9%). Most of the participants aged < 30 years old (54.8%), The majority of participants reported eating away from home at least once per week (89.6%). 66.0% of participants were knowledgeable about calorie definition, but only 37.1% knew about average daily energy requirements. Younger participants, with a normal BMI, and higher education levels reported a significantly higher likelihood of eating at a chain restaurant with caloric information on the menu (p <0.05). The majority of participants (76.0%) preferred to see calorie information and other nutrition information on menus. To conclude, menu labeling is a welcomed policy to be implemented in food outlets. Further investigation is necessary to ascertain the most efficacious method of presenting nutrition information to consumers to facilitate informed purchasing decisions considering the potential benefits of mandating calorie declaration in obesity prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: It is unknown whether the nutritional quality of children's menus varies depending on the cuisine type. This study aimed to investigate differences in the nutritional quality of children's menus by cuisine type in restaurants located in Perth, Western Australia (WA). Design: Cross-sectional study Setting: Perth, WA. Participants: Children's menus (n 139) from the five most prevalent restaurant cuisine types in Perth (i.e. Chinese, Modern Australian, Italian, Indian and Japanese) were assessed using the Children's Menu Assessment Tool (CMAT; range -5–21 with lower scores denoting lower nutritional quality) and the Food Traffic Light system, evaluated against Healthy Options WA Food and Nutrition Policy recommendations. Non-parametric ANOVA was used to test for a significant difference in total CMAT scores among cuisine types. Results: Total CMAT scores were low for all cuisine types (range -2–5), with a significant difference between cuisine types (Kruskal–Wallis H = 58·8, P < 0·001). The highest total CMAT score by cuisine type was Modern Australian (mean = 2·27, sd = 1·41) followed by Italian (mean = 2·02, sd = 1·02), Japanese (mean = 1·80, sd = 2·39), Indian (mean = 0·30, sd = 0·97) and Chinese (mean = 0·07, sd = 0·83). When using the Food Traffic Light for assessment, Japanese cuisine had the highest percentage of green food items (44 %), followed by Italian (42 %), Modern Australian (38 %), Indian (17 %) and Chinese (14 %). Conclusions: Overall, the nutritional quality of children's menus was poor regardless of cuisine type. However, children's menus from Japanese, Italian and Modern Australian restaurants scored better in terms of nutritional quality than children's menus from Chinese and Indian restaurants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of restaurants, canteens, other forms of eatery and food service outlets are becoming very big part of most economies at different levels. However improvement in customer experience while making orders plays a very critical role in having a smooth and efficient menu ordering process. This article presents a novel hybrid approach that tackles the challenges associated with menu ordering especially in the post-covid era; both from software and hardware perspectives. First, a web-application - powered by ReactJS and GraphQL, which enables order request anywhere at any time was developed. In addition, is the implementation of hardware with mobility feature on trips to the restaurant using two Arduino microcontrollers (transmitter and receiver). The result allows the user to browse through a catalogue, check-in and out on a Thin-Film-Transistor (TFT) liquid-crystal display (LCD) and deliver a seamless experience to the customer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The price of most food products is a function of attributes related to the product itself and signals associated with product features. Using a novel data source, online restaurant menus, this study examines the impact of various attributes on raw, half shell oyster prices in the United States. We find that oyster value is significantly affected by region, as well as the amount and type of information provided. West coast oysters, oysters sold in the Pacific region, and oysters sold on menus with additional information receive the highest price premiums. These findings suggest significant market segmentation exists within the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global context, marked by overweight and obesity in childhood, the problem of the consumption of meals and snacks out of home by children is of great importance. In Brazil, there are few studies tracing the food consumption of children out of home, the choices of the places and what will be eaten, and the nutritional quality of these meals. The present work aimed at evaluating the factors that influence the choice of establishments and children's menu in restaurants. The research was developed based on the cross-sectional study with a qualitative approach, using a convenience sample of 100 people, comprising 50 adults and 50 children, in the year 2020. Children below 7 years old and above 10 years old were excluded. The data survey was performed using online collection, using the form from Google Forms. The answers to the forms were automatically grouped and tabulated into a spreadsheet, also inside the Google structure. The choice of the kids menu was mostly performed by the adults, being 4% superior to the children's decision power. Child's preference was the main factor in the choice of the kids menu, followed by food quality. Hygiene and cleaning expressed the greatest relevance in the choice of the food establishment by the adults. The understanding of the Brazilian reality regarding infant feeding is a subject still little studied in Brazil, and further investments on research regarding this topic are necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theme addressed in this article is the organic food market of Family farming with food companies and restaurants in Santa Cruz do Sul and its impact on the formation of short chains of commercialization of these products. The theoreticalmethodological approach is referenced in the work of the French Moroccan economist Hassan Zaoual (2006), entitled New Economy of Local Initiatives - an introduction to post-global thinking, which brings the discussion of Symbolic Sites of Belonging, understood as bearers of a plurality of modes of coordination (gift, solidarity, reciprocity, cooperation, socialization, reciprocal learning), which fill the incompleteness of the market that generates uncertainty. The research was limited to the region of Santa Cruz do Sul, where owners of four restaurants, located in the central area of the city, and an industrial restaurant that provides outsourced meal service, were interviewed, and four family farmers who produce and sell organic food in the region. The results show that the organic production of family farming practiced in the region is guided by the principles of Agroecology and that these products are identified as differentials in the menus of restaurants, evidencing prospects for expanding the demand for organic foods in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To quantify the sector-wide energy and nutritional differences of both adult and children's restaurant menu items in the UK and the USA in 2018. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Energy and nutritional information provided on restaurant websites. Participants: Menu items (n 40 902) served by forty-two large UK chains and ninety-six large USA chains. Results: Mean absolute energy, fat and saturated fat values were higher in USA menu items. For example, the mean adjusted per-item differences of adult menu items between the USA and the UK were 45·6 kcal for energy and 3·2 g for fat. Comparable figures for children's menu items were 43·7 kcal and 4 g. Compared with UK menu items, USA adult menu items also had higher sugar content (3·2 g, 95 % CI (0·5, 6)), and children's menu items had higher Na content (181·1 mg, 95 % CI (108·4, 253·7)). Overall, 96·8 % of UK and 95·8 % of USA menu items exceeded recommended levels for at least one of Na, fat, saturated fat or sugars. Conclusions: Menu items served by large chain restaurants had higher mean absolute levels of energy, fat and saturated fat in the USA compared with the UK. UK adult menu items were also lower in sugars compared with the USA ones and children's items lower in Na. As more than 95 % of all items were considered to have high levels of at least one nutrient of public health concern in the USA and the UK, improvements in restaurant menu items are needed in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of automation and technology in every aspect of life is the global trend in the present age. It encompasses every facet of society including education, medicine, entertainment, defense, clothing, and restaurants, among others. Restaurants have also embraced technologies to facilitate their customers. Technologies like tablets for customer order, augmented reality, projection mapping for menu projection, touchscreen panels for order placement are among few worth mentioning. This paper proposes an entertaining way for the customers to place their orders without a waiter, using Machine Learning & Projection Mapping. The table serves as an interactive medium to browse through the menu and communicate with the kitchen with the touch of a finger. We have developed the product using TensorFlow and OpenCV using Python, along with a webcam or IP camera. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) has been designed in QT designer using pyqt5. This system is user friendly and can be installed in every environment. It can prove to be a low cost, high accuracy, real-time alternative to the existing technologies and can work in the cluttered environment with different illuminations with 96% accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The era of mobile information has arrived, and people's lifestyles have undergone tremendous changes. Ordering takeaways through takeout apps on smartphones is one of them. However, most existing takeaway platforms charge high commissions in the middle. There are many fake reviews in restaurants, the authenticity of restaurant ratings is low, and the recommended dishes have low customer satisfaction. This paper aims to solve this problem by introducing a peer-to-peer architecture based on blockchain smart contracts. The proposed architecture leverages the automation of smart contracts to provide autonomous, commission-free food ordering and delivery services. In addition, the smart contract reward mechanism is used to collect order information and rating information, and a deep learning recommendation model is introduced to analyze the data to recommend restaurants and menus to the client accurately. To demonstrate the usability and efficiency of the proposed method, we conducted a case study using public chain-based technologies. At the same time, comprehensive evaluation experiments are carried out, and the results show the importance of the proposed food delivery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Restaurants are ideal settings for implementing food interventions targeted at children. Studies with adults suggest that changes to the physical menu can lead to healthier food choices; online studies with parents indicate that specific menu designs facilitate healthier choices. However, it is unknown whether applying well-established nudging and boosting methods to children's menus also increases their choice of healthier meals in a real-world restaurant setting. Methods: The effects of two versions of a restaurant menu on the frequency of choosing a healthy meal (newly created, healthy target dish) were tested in a blinded quasi-randomized controlled trial. The menu in the control condition contained all dishes (including the healthy target dish) in a standardized format. The intervention menu included nudging (e.g. comic character, fun attractive name for the dish) and boosting elements (e.g. information on low calorie density) next to the healthy target dish. Over five months, the control and intervention menus were switched every two weeks and records were made of how often the healthy target dish was ordered. Results: In total, 607 orders were made from the children's restaurant menu (57% from the intervention menu). During the intervention phase, 4.2% of all ordered dishes from the children's menu were the healthy target dish, during the control phase, 4.4% of orders were for the target dish (p=.896). Conclusions: Contrary to our hypothesis, a modified children's menu did not lead to a significant increase in the number of orders for a healthy dish compared with a neutral control menu. Importantly, given that parents and children often choose the child's dish together, particularly boosting methods that focus on social processes and joint decision making could be promising to increase children's frequency of healthy food choices in restaurants. Trial registration: DRKS00027039, registered on 11/22/2021, (Retrospectively registered). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate the quality of children's menus in restaurants located in shopping malls. Methods: To select the sample, restaurants from 30% of shopping malls in each region of the city of São Paulo were included and, after considering only one restaurant per chain, the total was limited to 151 restaurants, 30.2% of which (n=35) presented a children's menu. Data were collected through a form on Google Forms. Results: Of the restaurants with children's menu, 60% (n=21) were conventional restaurants and 40% (n=14) takeaway/fastfood. The large number of chains present in most visited malls showed a democratization of the way of eating, with popular and accessible menus, regardless of social status. Most of the analyzed foods were cooked (41.5%). Most preparations did not use grease in their preparation and there was a notable lack of fruit and vegetables (FV) (4%). Sweet desserts were offered in 11.4% of the places and 20% included gifts with meals. Conclusions: The scarce offer of children's menus, few options and low FV offer indicate the need for a new look at the development of children's menus and a greater integration between the possibilities of restaurants and the expectations of parents and children, in the challenge of integrating the relationship between the supply of new foods that promote healthier habits and their consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Hermeneus is the property of Revista Hermeneus and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Estudios de Traducción is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this study, we aimed to understand how restaurants can contribute to climate change mitigation via menu design. We investigated two types of interventions: changing the configuration of menu entries with variable side dishes so that the most climate-friendly option is set as the default and indicating the greenhouse gas emission of each dish via carbon labels. In an online simulation experiment, 265 participants were shown the menus of nine different restaurants and had to choose exactly one dish per menu. In six menus, the main dishes were presented with different default options: the side dish was associated either with the highest or with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions. The other three menus consisted of unitary dishes for which the default rules did not apply. All menus were presented either with or without carbon labels for each dish option. The results indicated that more climate-friendly dish choices resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions were made with the low-emission than the high-emission default condition, and when carbon labels were present rather than absent. The effects of both interventions interacted, which indicates that the interventions partly overlap with regard to cognitive predecessors of choice behavior, such as attentional focus and social norms. The results suggest that the design of restaurant menus has a considerable effect on the carbon footprint of dining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calorie labeling is a recent initiative from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) aimed to reduce the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by influencing people to make healthier food choices when they eat out and can also help people with weight disturbances to be more aware of their calorie intake. The present study aimed to investigate the association between the use of calorie labeling on restaurant menus, calorie intake, weight concern, body weight perception, and weight-control behaviors among young women. A quasi-experimental study was conducted among female students at a university restaurant. Participants were assigned to two groups: food menus with (experimental group) and without (control group) calorie labeling. The logistic regression model assessed the predictors of using calorie information separately for the experimental and control groups. Calorie labeling had a significant effect on reducing calorie consumption in the experimental group by 59 calories compared to the control group. The higher weight concern in the control group (OR = 0.410; 95% CI 0.230–0.730; P ≤ 0.002) was a predictor for using calorie information. The experimental group had higher weight concern (OR = 1.530; 95% CI 1.107–2.115; P ≤ 0.01) and body weight perception (OR = 4.230; 95% CI 1.084–6.517; P ≤ 0.038) and lower calorie intake (OR = 1.005; 95% CI 1.001–6.517; P ≤ 0.008) predictors for using calorie information. Weight-control behaviors did not significantly predict the use of calorie information in the groups. Calorie labeling might increase the weight disturbances among young females. More investigation is needed across various populations to gain a better understanding of calorie labeling as an effective food choice among people who are vulnerable to weight disturbances or already have weight disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the pass‐through of the largest tax on sugar‐sweetened beverages enacted in the U.S., which is two cents per ounce in Boulder, Colorado. A strength of the paper is that, to achieve as complete a perspective as possible, we estimate the pass‐through of the tax not only to beverage prices in retail stores but also to those in restaurants, and we examine data for the treatment community of Boulder and a comparison community of Fort Collins, Colorado, from four sources: (a) hand‐collected data on prices from stores; (b) Nielsen Retail Scanner Data of store prices; (c) hand‐collected data on prices in restaurants; and (d) web‐scraped data from online restaurant menus. Across the multiple datasets, we find consistent evidence that the tax was largely, but not completely, passed through to consumers. In both the hand‐collected store data and restaurant data, pass‐through is slightly less than 75%, whereas pass‐through is just over 50% using the scanner data; consumers bear most, but not all, of the largest tax on sugar‐sweetened beverages in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine the prevalence and nutrient composition of menu offerings targeted to customers with dietary restrictions at US fast casual and full-service chain restaurants.Design: We used 2018 data from MenuStat, a database of nutrient information for menu items at large US chain restaurants. Five alternative diets were examined: gluten-free, low-calorie, low-carbohydrate, low-fat and vegetarian. Diet offerings were identified by searching MenuStat item descriptions and reviewing online menus. For each diet, we reported counts and proportions. We used bootstrapped multilevel models to examine differences in predicted mean kilojoules, saturated fat, Na and sugars between diet and non-diet menu items.Setting: Forty-five US fast casual and full-service chain restaurants in 2018 (including 6419 items in initial analytic sample across small plates, salads and main dishes).Participants: None.Results: The most prevalent diets were gluten-free (n 631, 9·8 % of menu items), low-calorie (n 306, 4·8 %) and vegetarian (n 230, 3·6 %). Compared with non-diet counterparts, low-calorie main dishes had significantly lower levels of all nutrients examined and vegetarian main dishes had significantly lower levels of all nutrients except saturated fat. Gluten-free small plates had significantly fewer kilojoules, grams of saturated fat and milligrams of Na compared with non-diet small plates.Conclusions: A small proportion of fast casual and full-service restaurant menus are targeted towards customers with dietary restrictions. Compared with non-diet items, those classified as gluten-free, low-calorie or vegetarian generally have healthier nutrient profiles, but overall nutrient values are still too high for most menu items, regardless of dietary label. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To understand the different Na menu labelling approaches that have been considered by state and local policymakers in the USA and to summarise the evidence on the relationship between Na menu labelling and Na content of menu items offered by restaurants or purchased by consumers.Design: Proposed and enacted Na menu labelling laws at the state and local levels were reviewed using legal databases and an online search, and a narrative review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted on the relationship between Na menu labelling and Na content of menu items offered by restaurants or purchased by consumers.Setting: Local and state jurisdictions in the USA.Participants: Not applicable.Results: Between 2000 and 2020, thirty-eight laws - eleven at the local level and twenty-seven at the state level - were proposed to require Na labelling of restaurant menu items. By 2020, eight laws were enacted requiring chain restaurants to label the Na content of menu items. Five studies were identified that evaluated the impact of Na menu labelling on Na content of menu items offered by restaurants or purchased by consumers in the USA. The studies had mixed results: two studies showed a statistically significant association between Na menu labelling and reduced Na content of menu items; three showed no effects.Conclusion: Data suggest that Na menu labelling may reduce Na in restaurant menu items, but further rigorous research evaluating Na menu labelling effects on Na content of menu items, as well as on the Na content in menu items purchased by consumers, is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze the variables that define the profile, motivation and satisfaction of the vegan consumer regarding the offer of bars and restaurants in the municipality of Indaiatuba/SP. Although the focus of this study is veganism, the sample included vegetarians as well, since the vegan segment is vegetarian by nature and the transition from vegetarianism to veganism is an ordinary behavior. This study addresses the main concepts on veganism, market segmentation and consumer profile, as well as the brief summary on the concept and history of the vegan market, the current Brazilian scenario and the vegan market in the municipality of Indaiatuba/SP. Methodologically it was a study with a mixed focus, being exploratory and descriptive, given the contemporaneity of the theme and for exposing characteristics of a certain population. The electronic questionnaire contained 16 questions, most of them with multiple choices, which generated data by means of descriptive statistics. The results demonstrate that, motivated by personal values and concern for the environment, vegan consumers are dissatisfied, and there is an urgent need to expand the options available in the menus of bars and restaurants in the city, as well as adaptations to serve the vegan public / vegetarian and understanding about the limitations of these consumers. It was also found that it is still a profile with low incidence characteristics or a more restricted social group, showing a segment with few followers (vegan) but expanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The prevalence of obesity has increased in the Brazilian population, especially in children, mainly associated with behavioral factors that lead to poor food choices. Objective: To evaluate the quality of children's menus in restaurants in shopping malls in Baixada Santista-SP and their consonance with the recommendations of the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population considering the NEW food classification. Method: The article comes from a research project developed by a multidisciplinary and inter-institute team, composed of researchers from the Nutrition course. A questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument, applied in all shopping malls in four cities in Baixada Santista region - Santos, São Vicente, Praia Grande and Guarujá cities-with questions to characterize and assess the quality of children's menus. The instrument was applied individually and simultaneously by two researchers, comparing their respective nutritional aspects to the concepts of healthy eating established in the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population; later, the collected data were transcribed to a digital platform. Sixty restaurants distributed in four cities were visited, of which only 13% had a children's menu. Results: According to the characterization of restaurants, it was identified that 50% of them are from large chains, mostly fast food. Some preparations classified as ultra-processed, such as french fries, hamburgers and deep-fried, are offered in 87.5%, 62.5% and 87.5% of the restaurants, respectively. Preparations that require more specific techniques, such as pasta, were found in 37.5% of restaurants. The use of cheese as toppings and fillings was identified in 100% of the restaurants. Drinks classified as ultra-processed were offered in 12.5% of the restaurants. Conclusion: It was possible to identify that nutritional and allergen values are not displayed in the preparations. It was observed that the quality of children's menus offered in restaurants is limited in relation to the variety of foods and with a large offer of ultra-processed foods, in disagreement with the recommendations of the Food Guide for the Brazilian Population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to evaluate the quality of the menus planned by the Food and Nutrition Unit of a University Restaurant. For this purpose, the evaluation of the quality of the menus was conducted using the Qualitative Assessment method of the Menu Preparations, together with the verification of the frequency of the preparations and the Chi-square test, at the level of 5%. The evaluation was conducted by 16 observers, who, after training, were divided into two groups, one of which evaluated the lunch menus (main course and option) and the other, the dinner menus (main course and option). The analyses were based on the presence of positive indicators (fruits and leafy vegetables) and negative indicators (fatty meats, sweets, fried foods, sweets plus fried foods, equal colors, carbohydrates (floury) and rich in sulfur). After analyzing the quality of the menu by these parameters, a classification was applied to the positive and negative aspects found (excellent, good, regular, bad and very bad). The menus showed a high frequency of leafy vegetables and fruit; low frequency of fried foods, fatty meats and sweets with fried foods; high frequency of equal colors and sulfur-rich foods. It is concluded that improvements in the menu are necessary, so that, in fact, the Food and Nutrition Unit of the University Restaurant has the menu as a tool for Food and Nutritional Education and, in this way, plays an encouraging role for healthy eating, thus contributing to disease prevention and health promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is about language used in menus. The recently changing approach to cooking and eating is also reflected in language that describes food. Restaurant menus are a clear example of this. It is because eating, i. e. experiencing the taste of dishes, does not only take using our tongue, but it also involves using language. Some restaurant owners are aware of the relationship between taste and word, which is reflected in the way some dishes are described in menu cards offered to customers. The purpose of the article is to analyse menus of selected restaurants and to show some linguistic tricks used by restaurant owners to encourage customers to eat in their restaurants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The case study provides a history of Chez Panisse and Alice Waters. Throughout Chez Panisse's history, Waters and her team had built a local and now global ecosystem using an "open innovation" strategy with stakeholders such as suppliers, alumni chef and staff, food writers, and others. The Chez Panisse ecosystem case study uses an open innovation framework to analyze how Chez Panisse grew. The case study allows students to learn how a small firm thrived and became a business success based on building a successful business ecosystem that shares knowledge, encourages individuals' growth, and embeds trust among participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To adapt and apply the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Restaurants (NEMS-R) to Hispanic Caribbean (HC) restaurants and examine associations between restaurant characteristics and nutrition environment measures.Methods: We adapted the NEMS-R for HC cuisines (Cuban, Puerto Rican, Dominican) and cardiovascular health-promoting factors, and applied the instrument (NEMS-HCR) to a random sample of HC restaurants in New York City (NYC) (N=89). Multivariable linear regression was used to assess independent associations between NEMS-HCR score and restaurant characteristics (cuisine, size, type [counter-style vs sit-down] and price).Results: None of the menus in the restaurants studied listed any main dishes as "healthy" or "light." More than half (52%) offered mostly (>75%) nonfried main dishes, and 76% offered at least one vegetarian option. The most common facilitator to healthy eating was offering reduced portion sizes (21%) and the most common barrier was having salt shakers on tables (40%). NEMS-HCR scores (100-point scale) ranged from 24.1-55.2 (mean=39.7). In multivariable analyses, scores were significantly related to cuisine (with Puerto Rican cuisine scoring lower than Cuban and Dominican cuisines), and size (with small [<22 seats] restaurants scoring lower than larger restaurants). We found a significant quadratic association with midpoint price, suggesting that scores increased with increasing price in the lowest price range, did not vary in the middle range, and decreased with increasing price in the highest range.Conclusions: Our application of the NEMS-R to HC restaurants in NYC revealed areas for potential future interventions to improve food offerings and environmental cues to encourage healthful choices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To compare the nutritional quality of children's combination meals offered at large US chain restaurants characterised by three versions - default (advertised), minimum (lower-energy) and maximum (higher-energy).Design: We identified default children's meals (n 92) from online restaurant menus, then constructed minimum and maximum versions using realistic additions, substitutions and/or portion size changes for existing menu items. Nutrition data were obtained from the MenuStat database. Bootstrapped linear models assessed nutrition differences between meal versions and the extent to which meal components (main dish, side dish, beverage) drove differences across versions. For each version, we examined the proportion of meals meeting the Guidelines for Responsible Food Marketing to Children.Setting: Twenty-six fast-food and fast-casual restaurants, in 2017.Participants: None.Results: Nutrient values differed significantly across meal versions for energy content (default 2443 kJ (584 kcal), minimum 1674 kJ (400 kcal), maximum 3314 kJ (792 kcal)), total fat (23, 17, 33 g), saturated fat (8, 6, 11 g), Na (1046, 915, 1287 mg) and sugar (35, 14, 51 g). The substitution of lower-energy beverages resulted in the greatest reduction in energy content (default to minimum, -418 kJ (-100 kcal)) and sugar (-20 g); choosing lower-energy side dishes resulted in the greatest reduction in total fat (default to minimum, -4 g), saturated fat (-1·1 g) and Na (-69 mg). Only 3 % of meals met guidelines for all nutrients.Conclusions: Realistic modifications to children's combination meals using existing menu options can significantly alter a meal's nutrient composition. Promoting lower-energy items as the default option, especially for beverages and side dishes, has a potential to reduce fat, saturated fat and/or sugar in children's meals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor diet is a leading driver of obesity and morbidity. One possible contributor is increased consumption of foods from out of home establishments, which tend to be high in energy density and portion size. A number of out of home establishments voluntarily provide consumers with nutritional information through menu labelling. The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences in the energy and nutritional content of menu items served by popular UK restaurants with versus without voluntary menu labelling. We identified the 100 most popular UK restaurant chains by sales and searched their websites for energy and nutritional information on items served in March-April 2018. We established whether or not restaurants provided voluntary menu labelling by telephoning head offices, visiting outlets and sourcing up-to-date copies of menus. We used linear regression to compare the energy content of menu items served by restaurants with versus without menu labelling, adjusting for clustering at the restaurant level. Of 100 restaurants, 42 provided some form of energy and nutritional information online. Of these, 13 (31%) voluntarily provided menu labelling. A total of 10,782 menu items were identified, of which total energy and nutritional information was available for 9605 (89%). Items from restaurants with menu labelling had 45% less fat (beta coefficient 0.55; 95% CI 0.32 to 0.96) and 60% less salt (beta coefficient 0.40; 95% CI 0.18 to 0.92). The data were cross-sectional, so the direction of causation could not be determined. Menu labelling is associated with serving items with less fat and salt in popular UK chain restaurants. Mandatory menu labelling may encourage reformulation of items served by restaurants. This could lead to public health benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The authors report the results of three experiments that address the effects of health claims and nutrition information placed on restaurant menus and packaged food labels. The results indicate that when favorable nutrition information or health claims are presented, consumers have more favorable attitudes toward the product, nutrition attitudes, and purchase intentions, and they perceive risks of heart disease and stroke to be lower. The nutritional context in which a restaurant menu item is presented moderates the effects of both nutrition information and a health claim on consumer evaluations, which suggests that alternative (i.e., nontarget) menu items serve as a frame of reference against which the target menu item is evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article follows research carried out by the author on the semiotics and pragmalinguistics of restaurant menus. The context is a training experience about how to teach LSP (Language for Special Purposes) in a CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) environment with teachers in Istituti Alberghieri. The final output is the compilation of a multilingual menu, in the shared conviction that a communicatively effective menu in different languages can enhance the quality of restaurants and make them successful with tourists. The “little texts” composing dish names prove to be interesting under the lexical and the syntactical viewpoints: these are the language levels playing the most significant role in the info-marketing strategies adopted by menus and the ones presenting the greatest difficulties in translating from Italian into French or English. A careful Error Analysis conducted on a corpus of a hundred menus from the Italian region of Lazio proves a successful scaffolding strategy and a practical metalinguistic tool to lead learners—CLIL teachers and students alike—to the production of their own menus, even more when combined with cooperative learning, gamification, graphic facilitators and… lots of fun!