THIBODAUX, La. — When you go out somewhere nice to eat, are you worried about the nutritional qualities of your food or the taste? A joint study conducted by the 杏吧传媒 dietetics department and the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute discussing that topic, and other questions, will be presented at an annual conference in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Brigett Scott, interim assistant dean of the College of Nursing and Allied Health, will give a presentation at the 2018 Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo on the research, titled 鈥淐ulinary and Dietetics Collaboration in the Kitchen Healthy Bistro Outcomes.鈥�
鈥淭his research is important because we want to make sure we are meeting the needs of all of the customers at Bistro Ruth,鈥� Dr. Scott said. 鈥淭his helps us understand our customer鈥檚 preferences and through this research, we could see people were making health-conscious decisions.鈥�
The annual conference will be from Oct. 20-23 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
Culinary and dietetics students teamed up to create a healthy menu option 鈥撀爁ewer than 550 calories, 18 grams of fat, 100 milligrams of cholesterol and 700 milligrams of sodium 鈥撀燼t the popular, student-run Bistro Ruth restaurant. Dietetic students surveyed 315 restaurant-goers to determine what menu item they chose, why they chose that meal and if they were satisfied with their choice.
Results, taken during the 2017-2018 year, found that of the 12.5 percent who chose the modified healthy option, 96 percent were satisfied with their choice. More than one-third of those surveyed made their menu choice based on the protein in the meal.
鈥淭he overall health in Louisiana depends on healthier food options being available,鈥� said Chef John Kozar, department head of the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute and co-author of the study. 鈥淲hat this research does is it shows our students that their customers are health-conscious and it鈥檚 important to keep that in mind as they advance in the industry.鈥�
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 16, 2018
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