Twin Cities Better Health Restaurant Challenge

Abstract To increase the availability of low-fat food and challenge consumers' perceptions, a large managed care organization (MCO) serving over 640,000 members challenged Minneapolis/St. Paul area restaurants to a contest. The objective of the program was to encourage restaurants to offer more low-fat menu items. Competition criteria included ≤9 fat grams per entree and ≤1 fat gram per dessert. Restaurants participating (N=24) received increased visibility through newspaper advertisements, media events, direct member mailings, free point of purchase materials and free Registered Dietitian consulting services and analysis of recipes. Winning restaurants were recognized and cash was donated to the American Heart Association in their name. Coupons for featured menu items were provided to members for use at over 80 participating sites. By rating the menu item(s) and returning the ballot, members of the MCO provided evaluation data and became eligible to win prizes. The average rating of the foods was 4.26 (Likert Scale) with 84% indicating they would order the item again. The restaurants, in follow-up focus groups, indicated increased patron requests for low-fat food since the contest. In conclusion, this program increased both availability and awareness of low-fat food options in our community. Future efforts to increase awareness and availability of healthy low-fat food options clearly may benefit from partnerships between organizations as demonstrated in this program.