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• Why have you created PER
SERVING?
• What
are Per Serving Food Facts?
•
Is this campaign just something to benefit people with health issues?
• Are you the food police,
trying to “censor” rich food recipes?
•
How do we know that the food facts are accurate?
•
Will PER SERVING help food editors analyze recipes and verify the
information?
•
Very few people pay attention to food facts, so why publish them at
all?
• In spite
of the fact that nutritional labeling exists on packaged foods and
some recipes, there are more overweight Americans than ever before,
a rise in diabetes, and heart disease is still the number one killer
in our country. What's the point?
•
So many recipes are elegant and gourmet. People interested in these
kinds of foods don't worry about food facts.
•
What is the problem? There are plenty of cooking light, low-fat recipes.
We have created PER SERVING to encourage food
editors and writers for newspapers, syndicates, magazines, food
websites and cookbooks to include accurate nutritional food facts
on the recipes they publish. By publishing a recipe, editors are
saying to their readers: "Try this at home." In effect,
editors have warranted that the recipes are worth preparing. PER
SERVING believes that by implicitly encouraging readers to make
the recipes they publish, newspapers, magazines, food websites
and cookbooks have an equal editorial responsibility to tell the
rest of the story by printing a complete and accurate nutritional
analysis for each recipe.
With this information, readers concerned about the dietary effect
of what they eat would have the facts they need to make informed
choices. For those living with a number of chronic health conditions,
this information can be a matter of life or death.
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To date, there are no standards for reporting
the per-serving food facts for recipes. PER SERVING hopes that
food journalists will work together to create a standard. For
now, PER SERVING would hope all recipes include, at a minimum,
the following information:
• A clear and obvious listing of the
number of servings the recipe makes, and the actual serving
size, where appropriate.
• An analysis of--at least-- the following nutrition facts:
 Calories,
Protein, Carbohydrates, Fat, Saturated fat,
Cholesterol,
Sodium and Dietary fiber
Click here to see examples
of publications that do an excellent job of reporting the per-serving
food facts for the recipes they publish.
Knowing how to read a Nutrition
Label on packaged foods can offer insight into how to read
the Per-Serving Food Facts on recipes. See how much you know.
Test
your knowledge.
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Every American should be aware of this information,
whether or not they have a particular health concern. Having said
that, for people who have chronic health conditions, this information
is vital to the management of their health. They have a right
to expect those who publish recipes to include this basic information.
In the end, some will use the food fact tool, others will not.
But everyone can benefit from this information.
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Absolutely not. PER SERVING is not trying
to censor chefs, change the diets of Americans or discourage them
from eating certain foods, nor is it about choosing good foods
or bad foods. Instead, we simply seek to give people the tools
to make informed choices about what they cook.
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Generating accurate food facts is not rocket
science, but it takes care and judgment. Registered dietitians
analyze recipes. Recipes can be analyzed in nutrition labs. In
addition, there are many excellent computer programs available
that generate accurate and reliable nutritional food facts. According
to one experienced food editor: "All it takes is common sense,
knowledge of food, how to cook and a calculator."
Click here to see a list
of various Recipe Analysis software.
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No. PER SERVING is asking media organizations
to do their job, which is to provide their readers with relevant
information. We believe that the nutritional content of a recipe
is an extremely relevant fact.
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Many people do pay attention to the food facts
and the claim that many others don't care hardly justifies denying
this information to people who rely on accurate food facts for
their health.
In a larger sense, this argument turns logic on its head. Perhaps
not everyone will use the food facts if they're available, but
we can be certain that if they're not published in the first place,
no one can use them. Looking at this another way: most readers
don't read every op-ed column or editorial, let alone every news
article, but newspapers publish this information anyway because
it contributes to an informed community and is part of their public
service obligation to inform and enlighten. Nutritional food facts
are no different. Some readers will use them, others will not,
but overall we will end up with a more informed and healthier
community if they're readily available.
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The point is that many Americans, particularly
those with health conditions and those who have adopted healthier
lifestyles, do use food facts and do depend on them to make healthy
choices. They have a right to see this information. The fact that
some will ignore it is not a rationale for not providing the information
for those who will use it.
It is true that we face serious issues in this country regarding
eating habits. But PER SERVING is not about revolutionizing eating
habits in America. Our goal is much more modest. It is to allow
those who do depend on food facts, and who do use them, to have
easy access to them.
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Elegant and gourmet do not have to mean "unhealthy."
A decadent chocolate cake recipe, for example, can have a place
in a diet … with moderation and portion control.
Many people like to try out new foods and recipes. And most recipes
published in America's mass-market newspapers and magazines are
not geared to some culinary elite class. Every reader, whatever
his or her tastes, has a right to know what's in the foods they
choose to prepare.
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Yes, the subculture of healthy eating publications
is certainly a positive development. But the fact is that most
Americans still read their daily newspapers, weekly and monthly
magazines and increasingly seek out information on the Internet.
The fact that there is a small group of publications that cater
to health-conscious readers, does not excuse the mass-market publications
from fulfilling their editorial responsibilities as well.
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