Nutrition the Food Service Industry Term Paper

It is important, therefore, that the food service industry addresses these issues at the supply chain and industry economics levels. It is difficult to change the nutrition value of foods without dealing with it at the supply chain level. The inputs are critical, and it will take key industry leaders to work with major suppliers like Sysco to improve the quality of inputs. In addition there needs to be a cultural shift. There is this idea that food cannot taste good without massive amounts of added fat, sugar and salt. This is simply not true. Food can taste good with moderate amounts of these things, but there needs to be concerted effort to craft good recipes, not just crank out the easy answers. More creativity is going to be important to meeting this challenge without compromising customer interest.

Lastly, industry needs to promote new ideas such as targeted indulgence. Right now, there is this idea that high calorie meals should be eaten every day, or multiple times per day. That idea will eventually be replaced -- especially as more consumers realize they aren't getting much taste benefit for those calories -- with the idea that indulgence should be just that. Fine dining is at the forefront of this idea, but the rest of the food service industry is going to need to adopt it as well in order to meet this trend towards nutrition being a hot topic issue.Works Cited:

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Jones, J. (2012). Michelle Obama announces new school lunch nutrition guidelines. BET. Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://www.bet.com/news/national/2012/01/25/michelle-obama-announces-new-school-lunch-nutrition-guidelines.html

Kelso, a. (2012). Restaurant industry's 2012 trends shaped by demographics, nutrition. Fast Casual. Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://www.fastcasual.com/article/189200/Restaurant-industry-s-2012-trends-shaped-by-demographics-nutrition

Park, a. (2012). NYC's trans fat ban worked: Fast food diners are eating healthier. Time Magazine. Retrieved November 22, 2012 from http://healthland.time.com/2012/07/17/nycs-trans-fat-ban-worked-fast-food-diners-are-eating-healthier/

QSR Web (2012). NY McDonalds restaurants launch grassroots nutrition initiative. QSR Web. Retrieved November 22, 2012 fromhttp://www.qsrweb.com/article/192392/NY-McDonald-s-restaurants-launch-grassroots-nutrition-initiative.....