Newswise — The Wayne County Airport Authority announced a new program that offers healthy menu items at its restaurants located throughout the new McNamara Terminal / Northwest WorldGateway at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW).
The airport partnered with the Henry Ford Hospital to evaluate the menus of 13 restaurants located in the McNamara Terminal. A Henry Ford dietitian visited the restaurants and designated items that met the hospital's Heart Smart criteria. She also worked with the restaurants to modify additional menu items to qualify as Heart Smart. All totaled, nearly 50 menu items of the restaurants evaluated, qualified for the Heart Smart designation and an additional 25 met the institute's Heart Smart + Sodium designation.
"Many people don't make the effort to eat well when traveling because healthy foods aren't readily available," said Heart Smart dietitian Jeanne Stevenson. "Fortunately for them, there's a wide variety of healthy food choices available at Detroit Metro Airport -- from sensible salads, sandwiches and fruit cups, to more exotic items like Middle Eastern tabbouli, Japanese gyu-don and beef curry. Travelers can also be Heart Smart by reducing their meal portions, and skipping the condiments like mayonnaise, cheese and salad dressing."
In addition to the 13 Heart Smart participating restaurants, many other restaurants at the airport also offer healthy menu items. Chilis Too, for example, offers their low fat Guiltless Grill items. Many of the franchise restaurants like Taco Bell and Burger King also offer health conscious selections.
Items qualified for Heart Smart based upon a 2000 calorie/day diet with the following maximum intakes:
Entrée total: 15 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 90 mg cholesterol, 800 mg sodiumSoup total: 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 500 mg sodiumDessert/side dish total: 5 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 30 mg cholesterol, 500 mg sodium
Logos have been placed on restaurant menus and menu boards to indicate foods that are:
Heart Smart, meaning they meet the Heart Smart fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium guidelines as typically prepared by the restaurant; and
Heart Smart + Sodium, meaning they meet the Heart Smart fat, saturated fat, cholesterol guidelines but have higher-than-recommended amounts of sodium.
"Many of our travelers and employees are looking for more health conscious food selections at the airport," said Wayne County Airport Authority CEO Lester Robinson. "In our state-of-the-art new terminal, this is one more choice our customers now have."
"Detroit Metro Airport is one of the only major airports I'm aware of that has proactively solicited and enforced healthy menu items in their restaurants," said Eric Kicherer, Director, Retail Concessions with Unison Maximus. "Many restaurants are now offering healthy food selections, because they realize there is a market for those items, but for the airport to take the first step is great."
"The program's goal was to ensure that healthy food choices were available to passengers and employees, throughout the new McNamara Terminal," said Myrna Mendez, Director of Concessions and Quality assurance for Detroit Metro Airport. "Health conscious travelers can find Heart Smart? food items throughout the complex, usually no more than two or three gates away."
"As a local leader and innovator in comprehensive health care, Henry Ford Health System is the perfect partner for our airport program," said Robinson. "Their mission of improving human life through excellence in the science and art of health care, and their forward-thinking approach to educating consumers about healthy lifestyles is the perfect fit in our airport environment. With more than 90,000 travelers passing through our doors each day, we are doing our part to ensure our customers have convenient access to healthy food choices while traveling through one of our country's busiest and most important gateways."
Heart Smart is a nutrition education program of Henry Ford Hospital's Heart and Vascular Institute developed in 1986 by physicians, physiologists, registered dietitians, and community leaders committed to helping individuals reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease. Heart Smart has established programs with General Motors, United Auto Workers and Ford Motor Company. Its trademark logo can be found on menus next to heart-healthy food items at the Detroit Renaissance Center Food Court and on items at your local grocery store.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is undergoing one of the most dramatic transformations of any airport anywhere, and recently tied for 2nd place among large U.S. airports in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates. In addition to the new 97-gate Edward H. McNamara Terminal / Northwest World Gateway, the airport has also recently opened a new 10,000 ft. runway, a new airport south access road, John Dingell Dr., and a new 400-room luxury-class Westin Hotel at the airport. With the creation of the new Wayne County Airport Authority, and future terminal projects planned, Metro Airport is quickly positioning itself as one of the finest air transportation gateways in the world.
A list of Heart Smart menu items and graphics can be found at http://www.Henryford.com.
RSS