Friday, April 1st the FDA released it’s proposed guidelines for Restaurant Menu Labeling. The complete guideline includes a 183 page document for restaurants and a 68 page document for vending machine operators.  Both can be found below. Restaurant Dietitian can guide you through how these regulations will affect you. Our newsletter summarizes the key points of the new proposed guidelines.

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>  Access the FDA’s proposed rules for restaurants and vending machines

>  Submit a comment to the FDA

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Fast casual chains are taking part in a new dietitian-hiring trend intended to address the national menu labeling law, the rising consumer demand for healthful menu options and the obesity epidemic.

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Tropical Smoothie Café, a tropical-themed smoothie and sandwich chain with more than 285 locations, announced in a release that registered dietitian Darcie Ellyne has joined the company to provide customers with the information and support they need to achieve healthy lifestyles.

Ellyne will serve as a resident expert to answer nutrition-related inquiries from customers and promote active lifestyles and the healthy menu options at Tropical Smoothie Café. As the "Tropical Smoothie Café Nutritional Lifeguard," Ellyne will use social media to provide sound, evidenced-based nutrition information and lifestyle guidelines for all who seek to improve their lives. She will also help the company revamp its nutritional analysis.

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Today’s Dietitian reports that President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010. Healthcare reform became a reality for all Americans and it mandates chain restaurants to provide calorie levels in menu items at the point of purchase. Darcie Ellyne, President of Restaurant Dietitian comments on the law’s effect on restaurants and their clientele.

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