Food-Labeling Interview with FoodCALC’s Alyson Mar
Recently I attended a menu-labeling webinar put on by FoodCALC, a San Francisco company that describes itself as a leader in web-based online nutritional analysis solutions for the food industry.
FoodCALC provides services to restaurants and to food manufacturers. With looming FDA menu-labeling requirements that will force restaurant chains above a certain size to provide nutrition information on menu boards and elsewhere set to kick in, the horizon for the 7-year-old FoodCALC looks like a busy one as it works to help restaurateurs comply with the new law.
Seeking to learn more about FoodCALC and what the new menu-labeling rules will mean on a practical level, I interviewed FoodCALC’s Alyson Mar, RD, Director of Nutrition, by email over several days. What follows is an edited transcript of that interview.
Crispy: Tell me a bit about yourselves and FoodCALC. Who are you? What do you do?
Alyson Mar (AM): FoodCALC is the industry leader in web-based nutrition analysis solutions for the US food industry. We have two products: MenuCalc (for restaurants and chefs) and LabelCalc (which creates FDA Nutrition Facts Labels for food manufacturers). We are bunch of nutrition and technology nuts who are striving to make nutrition analysis accessible for all sizes of companies and all ranges of budgets.
Our president and CEO Lucy Logan founded the company in 2003 in response to her frustrations with trying to enjoy meals out with her pre-diabetic father. She eventually learned that the industry was lacking an easy solution to calculate nutrition analysis. An online system seemed like an obvious solution to help restaurant owners simplify the process. We have received exclusive endorsement from The National Restaurant Association—as well as the California, Florida, Oregon, Colorado, and Massachusetts state restaurant associations—to provide nutrition information to restaurant operators.
With a staff of registered dietitians and IT professionals, our mission is to provide the industry with easy and cost-effective tools to obtain nutrition information. Our web-based platform enables our customers to respond to legal requirements, consumer demand, and competition by providing nutrition information in a timely, user-friendly, efficient and cost effective manner.
Crispy: Can you explain to me how your MenuCalc service works? For example, say I’m a restaurateur and I want to provide my customers with nutrition information related to my Cobb salad. How can FoodCALC help?
AM: MenuCalc is FoodCALC’s product designed for restaurant operators. MenuCalc is an online nutrition analysis tool that can easily, quickly, and affordably calculate the nutrition information you need for your Cobb salad. All you have to do is log on to your account from any computer, search our database for each ingredient one at a time, and then enter the amount of each ingredient and your portion size. The database will then produce the nutrition information summary for your recipe. You can then download different reports and formats of your results. It sounds easy, I know. But that’s because it is.
This method of nutrition analysis is very different from the more traditional, costly method of a restaurant having to send a food sample to a lab. Database analysis allows many more recipes to be analyzed in an economical way, yet it is still accurate and FDA-approved. FoodCALC was the first company to bring database analysis for the food industry online—along with all the benefits that a web-based platform offers.
Crispy: What do you think about the recent (July 23) notice in the Federal Register offering non-covered restaurants the opportunity to opt in to the menu labeling regulations?
AM: I think that a lot of “non-covered” restaurants are already beginning to feel consumer pressure and provide this information anyways. Over 80% of our current restaurant clientele are not currently covered by menu labeling regulations and are simply providing nutrition information because their diners are asking for it. The opportunity to opt in provides them the access to some of the protections offered in the legislation that they would not have otherwise, while also giving them the competitive advantage that menu labeling can provide.
Crispy: That’s a really high percentage of clients who offer information even though the government doesn’t require them to do so. I think it’s great that so many restaurants want to provide their customers with information their customers demand. That’s how the free market is supposed to work, isn’t it?
AM: Absolutely! The restaurant industry is very consumer-driven. If you look at the big picture a very small percentage of companies are affected by the legislation itself, but everyone is being affected by consumer demand and by a desire to please their diners. We live in a world of transparency now. And society expects more value for the money.
Crispy: Can FoodCALC help with non-nutritional facets of labeling? For example, can FoodCALC help me to create an FDA-compliant Primary Display Panel (PDP) for grocery packaging?
AM: Our product to help food manufacturers is called LabelCalc. It works much the same way as MenuCalc, with a web-based interface. With it, we also offer our clients and potential clients a checklist that outlines what is required for the PDP to help them design their own labels. In addition we offer final label review services through our consulting options. An FDA-regulation specialist will review the PDP for FDA compliance and provide feedback to the client about how to make the label compliant.
Crispy: What do you think might be the next frontier in nutrition labeling?
AM: I expect we’ll see several changes to packaging itself. For example, front of package labeling with a consistent look, so packages will no longer have the Nascar “sponsored” feel. I also predict a total re-design of the Serving Size display. And definitely a lower sodium daily value. Another example is more single serve packets—not a box of 12 loose cookies, but a box of six packets containing two cookies each.
The biggest shift, though, will be using mobile phones and barcode technology to offer shoppers transparency between comparative food products on the shelf and, for diners, “better-for-you” menu items. Technology will play a role in guiding consumers to the best food choices, moving away from the current expectation that consumers have to learn everything about what’s good for them.
Quick Bites
Organic strawberries are better than conventional ones. And conventional strawberries are better than organic ones. [LAT]
California actually decides not to ban something. [CNN]
A fantastic post about how foreign food aid harms the very people it’s intended to help. Eat me, Bono. [The Atlantic]
Celery Jello? Sylvester Stallone Pudding? Eek. The thirteen worst food-marketing ideas ever. [Guyism]
August Haffenreffer, the brains behind Green Death, RIP. [Boston Globe]
Legalize home distilling! [Reason.tv, with a doff of the cap to Crispy reader Zach]
Crispy’s foie de vivre gets some link love on French radio. [Radio France]
Beer Latest Thing That Shouldn’t Be Fried But Is
Quick Bites
Jamie Oliver tells Christiana Amanpour that his various multi-billion-dollar failed schemes are all about finding “a really good value bang for your buck.” [ABC News]
Mario Batali’s Eataly set to open. Just don’t call it a food court. [WSJ]
Baby carrots, which are sort of chlorinated and made from deformed carrots and get most of their calories from sugar, are all set to take on junk food. [USA Today]
Everything would be fine if the government would more rigorously enforce a ridiculous 91-year-old anti-trust law, and amend it and make it tougher and stuff. [HuffPo]
Visitors to Vermont left to suck on tree sap as federal government bioterrorism compliance concerns shutter maple syrup plant tour. [Jaunted]
What the latest food recall really proves about FDA power. [Reason]
Nevada GOP leader suggests amending the state constitution to permit a tax on food to close a budget deficit. [BusinessWeek]
This Week in Bacon
Over the last several years (as you know) bacon has leapt from the meat aisle to nearly every segment of the food and beverage market. There’s bacon-infused Bakon vodka (not to be confused with Bacon flavored vodka), bacon candy, and even (kosher!) Bacon Salt.
Friar Bacon Bottle Conditioned Smoked Bock beer, brewed by Cincinnati’s Listermann Brewing Co., looks to fall into the same category as the latter, as Friar Bacon merely emulates bacon’s flavor without containing any actual bacon.
Like Bacon Salt, Friar Bacon certainly capitalizes on bacon imagery. Note the four slices of porcine goodness framing the label, and the punny name that seems as much an ode to a bacon fryer as it is to playwright Robert Greene’s magi-comic sixteenth-century friar. Beer Advocate gives Friar Bacon a grade of “B” and notes it does contain a certain mysterious element of smoked meat flavor.
Bacon beers are slowly moving from the concept stage to the product stage. The Aecht Schlenkerla Marzen Smokebeer at Piece Brewery and Pizzeria in Chicago, according to a friend, contains no bacon but “has a distinct bacon aroma, a subtle (not overwhelming) bacon flavor while drinking, and an unmistakable (but not at all unpleasant) pork fat aftertaste.” And still another brewer is planning to market a Bacon Brown Ale that is in fact made with actual bacon, which is “is added as the malt boils.”
[Cross-posted at Bevlog.]
The Worst Thing Since Sliced Bread
Want to save eight cents in New York? Tell your server to drop the knife!
In New York, the sale of whole bagels isn’t subject to sales tax. But the tax does apply to “sliced or prepared bagels (with cream cheese or other toppings),” according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance. And if the bagel is eaten in the store, even if it’s never been touched by a knife, it’s also taxed.
That was news to one New York bagel-store owner, who found out he was out of compliance with the policy this summer when the state audited his company.
Hijinks ensued. And by “hijinks,” I mean the owner had to write a fat check to NY revenuers.
Full story here.
Everything You Never Knew About the Quiet Success of Trader Joe’s
Other than knowing that I love to shop there, I have to admit that I know little about Trader Joe’s. Fortune, in an awesome profile of the company up today, explains its massive success and why my ignorance is all part of TJ’s approach.
Right off the bat, writer Beth Kowitt reveals this stunning nugget:
The privately held company’s sales last year were roughly $8 billion, the same size as Whole Foods’ (WFMI, Fortune 500) and bigger than those of Bed Bath & Beyond, No. 314 on the Fortune 500 list (emphasis and link omissions mine).
I could excerpt paragraph after paragraph of fascinating content, but if you’re interested at all in TJ’s, food, retailing, or capitalism (or some combination thereof) to any degree then just go read the whole article. And to counter the annoying bit of anti-choice rhetoric spouted by Swarthmore Prof. Barry Schwartz, you should also check out Radley Balko on the tyranny of mustard.
This Week in Bacon
The French have a saying: “vivre pour manger, pas manger pour vivre.” It basically means, “live to eat, don’t eat to live.” The Americans (or maybe just some of my friends and family) also have a saying: “Eating that much bacon will kill you.” Will it though? Would I rather go through life counting carbs and calories and grams of saturated fat, or would I rather taste life and indulge in some of the best — and fattiest — food? I struggle with this question every day once a year. CNN had an article this week on just this topic, providing anecdotal stories from its readers about the “live to eat/eat to live” dilemma that many of us face. Here are a select few:
BillinCA
For those of you on their high horse, eat healthy snobs, I will bet you a pretty penny any given day that, on average, you will not live longer then average person that eats to his/her enjoyment. I had two great grandparents that ate bacon grease in their food on a daily basis and lived into their mid 90s. And I have read stories of people dropping dead in their 40s and 50s while they did everything “right”. No, I am not in denial, some foods do kill you, but sometimes you can take it too far by living in fear.
For the record, bacon grease is AMAZING when mixed with a little vinegar, mustard, and sugar, and then drizzled on some salad.
Daffydil
So some of you think if you eat this way you will die sooner, or if you eat nothing but vegetables you will live longer? My grandmother lived to be 105 and her sister is still alive, while my mother is 85 and ALL of them grew up on foods like the article states. [Ed. note: fat drippings, buttermilk, gelatin] Don’t be an idiot! It’s not just the foods you eat; attitude has a whole lot to do with health and from what I’m reading most of you will die young.
Maybe not only attitude — working out helps too.
Craig Shearer
I grew up in a country home, being raised by a grandmother that hailed from the South. She used nothing but bacon grease and REAL butter to cook, in Cast Iron everything. Milk, unpasteurized from the cow in the barn. She died at the age of 89, a very slender lady all of her life. My grandfather, who ate that cooking his whole life died at 83.
Sigh, I wish I grew up in the South. And I mean the real South — DC doesn’t quite count.
So, moral of the story anecdotes: Sure, it’s important to watch your health and to exercise. But, it’s also important to eat (and apparently, to eat bacon grease). So, go ahead and indulge.
Blogging About Lindsay Lohan Now (Sm)all Part of Hard Day’s Work
As some of you know, I’ve been putting my lawyering skills to work for the past several months as an attorney with Lehrman Beverage Law, a Virginia firm that specializes in federal regulation of alcohol beverages.
I joined the firm to help expand the scope of their work beyond alcohol and into the area of food (including non-alcoholic and low-alcohol beverages). Sometimes this area is a very grey one, as my first post on the firm’s blog, Bevlog–which we’ve linked to in the sidebar for some time now–illustrates. Here’s an excerpt:
Mention the words “kombucha” and “buzz” in 2006 and you’d likely be referring to the drink’s growing popularity. But mention those same words today and you’d likely be talking about allegations the fermented tea drink contains a small but legally significant amount of alcohol.
As a recent TTB statement illustrates, the Bureau is working with FDA to ensure that kombucha sold as a non-alcoholic beverage—currently all kombucha—contains less than 0.5% alcohol. Some reports claim kombucha contains up to 3% alcohol.
TTB, the Treasury Department’s Tax and Trade Bureau, regulates most alcohol beverages. But the FDA oversees a small percentage of the trade, regulating (amongst a few other alcohol beverages) fermented beverages that contain less than 7% alcohol (like cider). Thus the grey area.
So what’s this all got to do with Lindsay Lohan? Well, you may recall some news reports earlier this summer suggested her consumption of the drink may have been responsible for setting off her court-ordered alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet.
Read more at Bevlog. And look for Crispy to inch a little more toward drinks, as I’ll be posting and cross-posting bloggy stuff here that I also post at Bevlog.
OKC Bombing Conspirator Nichols Loses Suit Demanding Better Prison Food
Even the world’s smallest violin playing is too much for this story:
A judge in Denver has dismissed claims by Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols that prison officials violated his constitutional rights by depriving him of a diet rich in whole grains, fiber, raw fruits and vegetables.
U.S. District Judge Christine Arguello said in a ruling issued Monday that Nichols didn’t support his claims that the prison’s food amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and violates his right to free exercise of religion.
Nichols sued last year, saying the food served at the federal prison in Florence, Colo., violated his religious beliefs by causing him to sin.
That doesn’t even deserve comment.
More here. Trying to muster any sympathy for Nichols is impossible. Instead, read the list of the 168 victims of his actions who perished fifteen years ago. Those killed included several infants (the youngest of whom was just 3 months old).
Quick Bites
Seattle raised the number of chickens local residents may keep in their yards from three to eight, but also blocked the cock banned the introduction of new roosters. [MyNorthwest]
Marion Nestle summarizes proposed food safety legislation. Where does she stand? While remaining plausibly neutral on the bill, Nestle provides background through links to a 1) blog post by Bill Marler (America’s most famous plaintiffs’ food-safety litigator) and 2) Consumer Federation of America statement that explains why the bill doesn’t go far enough. [The Atlantic]
First unemployment checks created jobs. Now’s it’s food stamps doing the trick! [Houston Chronicle]
Is it legal to eat a cat in the U.S.? Maybe, in some circumstances (like if you swallow it while it’s still alive). [Slate]
Federal judge tells GMO sugar beets to beat it. This case really involves a fascinating mix of legal issues, including everything from the U.S. embargo on Cuban sugar (which make cane sugar more expensive) to U.S. domestic sugar subsidies (which make sugar even more expensive) to crop IP rights held by Monsanto (which raise their own issues). [WSJ]
Looking for signs of stability in Zimbabwe? McDonald’s is looking to open up shop there. [APA]
Quick Bites
Corby Kummer says, “Partisan. Partisan. Partisan. Food stamps. Partisan. Teachers. Partisan.” I react in comments. [The Atlantic]
Watermelon art. [Daily Mail]
Food mags all the rage. [NY Post]
How to make a nutritious school lunch. [Greeley Tribune]
Food on a stick at the Iowa State Fair. [Des Moines Register]
People who read food labels make healthier food choices. [BusinessWeek]
Emeril’s happy ending. [FoodNetwork]
“Culinary terrorism” the latest dig against highly caloric fast food sandwiches. [Gawker]
This Week in Bacon
There’s been a lot of buzz about bacon this past week (what else is new?) — so here are a few bacon bits for you:
Today is Bacon Lovers’ Day . . . in Milwaukee. [OnMilwaukee.com]
The price of pork belly goes up . . . but in this recession, will baconphiles pay up? [Wall Street Journal]
Wendy’s decides to upgrade their bacon to applewood smoked bacon, cooked in house (rather than zapped 30 seconds in the microwave). [Fox News]
But has Wendy’s gone far enough? [Time]
In other “news”, singer Katy Perry decides to devote her next album to bacon, a much more interesting topic than California Gurls. She plans to wear a bacon bikini for the cover — maybe Snoop Dogg can wear bacon briefs. [Des Moines Register]
If all this talk of bacon makes you hungry like me, try out Boss Hog’s Bodacious BBQ Bacon and Bean Salad Recipe. Boss Hog never disappoints. [News Blaze]
San Francisco Regulations Devastate City; Male Nurse Oblivious
Last month I had to explain to a male nurse from San Francisco why I think his fair city (and state) is hostile to business. When I first made the claim, he looked at me like I had five different colored eyes. He seemed unmoved, even as I rattled off some good examples from the world of food.
You can lead a nurse to water, but… whatever.
In any case, dude, in the event you happen upon this blog I want to ask that you maybe read your hometown newspaper on occasion. Like now, for example.
You have probably heard the expression: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Apparently that’s the new motto of Ike’s Place.
On Wednesday a San Francisco Superior Court judge ruled to evict the popular Castro District sandwich shop. The result – record crowds.
“I had my busiest weekend ever,” said Ike Shehadeh, the owner and founder. “We turned over 4,000 sandwiches. The line was two hours to get to the door and then 30 minutes for a sandwich.”
The story of the little sandwich shop that has become too popular for its own good just keeps getting more surreal. At a time when small businesses are going belly-up in the city and boarded-up storefronts blight business streets, Ike’s is a homegrown, booming success story, created by a kid who was born and raised in San Francisco.
Better shut him down.
Now honestly, there are some problems. Granted, Ike’s doesn’t have the right permit for a restaurant. Admittedly, the long lines can be a problem. Cooking smells do waft over the neighborhood.
Shehadeh is fighting his eviction, but he is also touring other potential locations in towns where he says city officials say, “We want you to know you are not going to have the problems here that you had in San Francisco.”
But unless there’s a stay of eviction issued by the San Francisco Superior Court, the sheriff will shut down Ike’s on Aug. 26.
More here (including lots of embedded links). For a look at the sorry state of the whole state (foodiewise), check out my article on California’s various crackdowns on its wonderful foods here.
Jamie Oliver School Lunch Could Easily Have Made List of Worst Fast Foods
The newest worst-foods list, published by Men’s Health magazine, includes the McDonald’s Big Breakfast with Large Biscuit, Hotcakes, Margarine, and Syrup, which boasts 1,370 calories, 64.5 g fat (21.5 g saturated) and 49 g sugar. Admittedly that’s probably not the best way to start every day.
But how about the school lunch I wrote about in my profile of Jamie Oliver earlier this year? In his eponymous magazine Jamie, Oliver recommends a sack lunch containing 1,183 calories, 55 grams of fat (20 g saturated), and 65 grams of sugar.
Sure, Oliver’s sack lunch isn’t fast food. So it couldn’t qualify for the list. But does it make a rat’s ass of difference that the sack lunch is made by the loving hands of mom or dad, and that the McDonald’s breakfast is made by the loving-but-possibly-indifferent hands of some teenager? In my book, not really. In spite of what Mr. Oliver might think, the hyped benefits of fresh food–or any food–have as much to do with the question of how much as they do with the question of what (or the question of taste, which is entirely subjective).
Speaking of Oliver, it looks like Britain’s new government has decided to stop letting him experiment on the nation’s schoolchildren.
