Page 16 - gfs1117_Magazine

SPECIAL CITATION: DESSERTS

Responsible Choices Make a

Healthy Diet

Desserts Can Count Toward a Sum of
Daily Choices That Equals Go for Green

ervice members Ingredients are evaluated according to DoD menu stan-
Scan have their dards, with further guidance using Food and Drug Admin-
dessert and eat a istration guidelines for trans-fat free and other contents the
smarter, more health- military considers less healthful.
ful diet, too, as long “The Headquarters Marine Corps Warfighter and Perfor-
as their dining facility mance dietitian may provide input to offer healthier des-
choices balance green- serts for the approval of the 21-day cyclic menu,” she said.
label options frequent-
ly enough to offset HEALTHIER VARIETY
Department of Defense menu stan- the occasional yellow The Navy continues working to enhance its menu by
dards offer service members a wide indulgences and any expanding the number of options currently available to
variety of dessert options daily.
rare red treats. sailors. “Cereal bars and cookies are offered due to these
Service members being most preferred by customers and their meeting special
are expected to follow the Go for Green/Fueled to Fight constraints,” said Jennifer Person-Whippo, Navy nutrition
nutritional programs to make responsible meal choices that program manager, Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP).
amount to a healthy diet. “The consistent messaging is that Desserts meet Navy Go for Green menu coding guide-
all foods can fit in moderation, and support performance lines, and are either labeled green (eat often), yellow (eat
nutrition will prevail,” said Sharlene Holladay, Marine Corps occasionally) or red (eat rarely). “For desserts, one green
warfighter and performance dietitian. “The evaluation for option must be available, one yellow and only one red
our color-coding criteria for Fueled to Fight remains the option per meal,” Person-Whippo said.
same for desserts. Ideal products need to be less than 10 Fruit is always available as a healthful dessert option and
percent saturated fat, less than 30 percent total fat, low in is required by Department of Defense 1338.10 food service
added sugar and contain some fiber.” program policy to be offered in dining facilities and galleys
Department of Defense (DoD) menu standards comprise a along with one reduced-fat item, she said.
variety of fresh fruit, yogurt, baked and other dessert options When evaluating desserts, the military considers the
that offer service members a wide choice of options every day. ingredients used, such as trans fats, partially hydrogenated
Fresh fruit is a healthy option that is available in Ma- oils and artificial sweeteners, before classifying them with
rine Corps mess halls during each meal a Go for Green color code.
on all dessert bars, and may be cut and “These ingredients are con-
served as a fruit salad on the salad bar. sidered when desserts are ap-
When circumstances or location limit the proved,” she said. “Artificially
availability of fresh fruit in the mess hall, sweetened items code yellow
alternatives can be substituted. “Alterna- where partially hydrogenated
tives are evaluated based on geographic items code red. The addition of
location, vendor offerings and quality,”
Holladay said. “Both frozen and canned
are considered.”
Otherwise, dessert bars must have one
reduced-fat dessert choice, sweetbread or
baked item available. The dessert assort- Desserts get the same
Go for Green/Fueled to
ment must also include trans-fat-free (0 Fight color label codes to
grams of trans-fat per serving) baked items. make educated choices.
The military also is evaluating the
ingredients used in desserts, as well as other dishes, with
the goal of updating to selections made using a cleaner list
that does not include certain items.
16 GOVERNMENT FOOD SERVICE • NOVEMBER 2017