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Washington Restaurants Selected for National Nutritional Program Test Market |
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The Washington Restaurant Association announced today it is partnering with Stayhealthy, Inc. and developing a pilot program in select Washington restaurants. Aimed at defining a national standard for healthy meal preparation in restaurants, the pilot program's overarching goal is to support consumer health and wellness. |
Stayhealthy, a privately held company, is focused on enabling consumers to take control of their health and 'get healthy.' They offer a seal of approval program for restaurants and chefs, as well as consumer tools to help improve their overall health.
The seal of approval consists of several elements: a methodology for meal preparation, an education and training program for chefs and restaurant employees, a menu database and a branding program that will indicate to restaurant patrons that a given establishment and specific menu items are 'Stayhealthy Approved.'
In collaboration with the Washington Restaurant Association, Stayhealthy will bring the healthy meal preparation methodology to Washington restaurants.
'We're excited about the opportunity to be a test site for this program,' said Anthony Anton, president and CEO of the Washington Restaurant Association. 'Restaurants want to help be part of the solution surrounding nutrition, but we all need more education and tools.'
According to John Collins, CEO of Stayhealthy, the spirit of the program is not to impose guidelines or limit the creativity of individual chefs.
'The Stayhealthy seal of approval is intended to establish a uniform understanding of what is a healthy meal,' said Collins. 'Chefs can then use those guidelines to create their own unique culinary masterpieces.'
Collins also says educating consumers is equally as important. 'Ask 10 people what a healthy meal is, and you will likely get ten different opinions,' said Collins. 'Most people also share the common misconception that if a meal is good for you, it probably doesn't taste very good.'
Through the total Stayhealthy program, consumers not only can identify a healthy menu item in a restaurant, but they can now accurately measure their body composition with small desktop device, the Stayhealthy body composition analyzer. By simply holding the device for a few seconds, users will get measurements of their body fat, lean muscle mass and hydration level.
When docked to a PC it seamlessly uploads your information to a personal Web site, where you can access charts and other information to monitor your activity over time and help users reach your health goals.
Twelve Washington area restaurants will be invited to participate in the program which is anticipated to go live in February 2009.
The Washington Restaurant Association, in its 79th year, is the leading business association for the restaurant industry - the largest private employer in the state with a workforce of more than 193,000 employees. In Washington, the more than 12,500 restaurants annually generate $10.7 billion to the state economy and contribute $593 million in state taxes. Washington restaurants are vital to our economy, community and careers. www.WRAhome.com
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