Healthy Dining launches restaurant nutrition resource

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In partnership with the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and founding sponsor American Express, Healthy Dining launched an online nutrition resource for foodservice called "Restaurant Nutrition: News & Insights for the Foodservice Industry."

"Restaurant Nutrition: News & Insights" features a variety of content on nutrition issues affecting the industry today, with topics such as complying with new menu labeling regulations, reducing sodium, calories and fat, improving the healthfulness of kids' meals, offering a gluten-free menu, and capitalizing on growing wellness trends. The new resource also features weekly interviews with industry executives and marketing and culinary leaders. The first interview is with NRA president and CEO Dawn Sweeney.

"Restaurant Nutrition: News & Insights" can be found at www.healthydiningfinder.com/operators and at www.restaurantnutrition.com.
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Morgan named ACF Culinary Team USA pastry chef

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U.S. Army Master Sgt. Mark Morgan has been named pastry chef for the American Culinary Federation's (ACF) Culinary Team USA. He is replacing Andrew Chlebana, CEC, CCA, who withdrew in August.

Morgan (pictured, below), a recipient of the bronze service medal, is chef and senior enlisted aide to General Martin E. Dempsey of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va. He has served on the U.S. Army Culinary Arts Team since 1997 as a pastry chef and advisor. The team won gold and silver medals at the 1998 Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg; was named world champions in the military category at the Internationale Kochkunst Ausstellung (IKA), or "culinary Olympics," in Erfurt, Germany, in 2000; and earned a gold medal in hot food and cold food, placing second overall, at the 2008 IKA. Morgan also was named the 2000 Army Chef of the Year.


"Mark brings a vast amount of experience in international culinary competition to the team and will be a huge asset," Steve Jilleba, CMC, CCE, AAC, corporate executive chef for Unilvever Foodsolutions, Lisle, Ill., and ACF Culinary Team USA manager, in a statement. "We are proud to welcome him as we get ready to compete in November at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg."

Morgan joins six other chefs on the team, who are:
The team's first international culinary competition is Nov. 20 to 24 at the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg. Visit www.acfchefs.org.
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Wisconsin wins big at American Cheese Society Competition

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Extra Aged Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, Wis., was named Best of Show for the third time at the 27th annual American Cheese Society (ACS) Competition on Aug. 28 in Seattle.

ACS 2010 Competition Best of Show: Extra Aged Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, Wis.

Cheesemakers from 225 companies in 34 states, Canada and Mexico were represented. Of the 1,462 total entries, Wisconsin cheesemakers captured the most awards of any state with 98. Among the big winners were Carr Valley Cheese with 18, BelGioioso Cheese Inc. with seven and Sartori Foods with six awards. Québec cheesemakers took home 16 ribbons at this year's competition, with Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser, Damafro Inc. and Fromagerie Abbaye Saint-Benoît du Lac among its top winners. Click here to download the complete list of ACS competition winners.

ACS is a nonprofit trade organization that encourages the understanding, appreciation and promotion of farmstead and natural specialty cheeses. The 2011 ACS Conference and Competition will take place in Montreal, Québec. For more information, visit www.cheesesociety.org.
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September 2010 Chef digital edition is now available

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The digital edition of the September 2010 issue of Chef Magazine is now online through the Chef website. This digital edition features all the same great content as the print edition, plus online exclusives on festive holiday recipes and Bordeaux-style U.S. red wines. To access the issue, click the icon below. You can also register on the Chef website to receive e-mail notification when each new digital magazine is available for viewing.
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Industry Voices

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"Because customers' opinions of restaurants are so subjective, depending on everything from their moods to their life experiences, our business can be brutal when people don't enjoy what they are paying for. Guests have become more educated and vocal over the past number of years. This certainly makes it harder for us, but it also forces us to continue to strive to be better."
--John des Rosiers, chef/owner, Inovasi, "Industry Voices," September 2010, Chef Magazine

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Gastronomes budget for food passion during recession

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While Americans remain budget-conscious since the onset of the economic downturn, 68 percent say they did not decrease spending in the areas they are most passionate about--with food being the number-one passion cited, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker. Sixty percent of the 2,025 Americans surveyed cited food as their passion, with electronics and gadgets (35 percent), sports (34 percent) and fashion (25 percent) following.

On average, foodies appear to spend significantly more on their passion annually ($2,447) compared to the other three groups. Consumers also prioritized spending on larger ticket items and ranked what they spend on most often to indulge in their passion. The top large-ticket items for foodies included fining-dining (35 percent) and culinary vacations (8 percent).

Moreover, 53 percent of foodies say they didn't cut-back spending on their passion at the onset of the economic downturn and 46 percent say they enjoy spending on their passion for food without ever feeling guilty.

For more information, visit http://about.americanexpress.com/default.aspx.
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Shovelnose sturgeon listed as threatened species

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has listed the shovelnose sturgeon (pictured, below) as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act due to its similarity of appearance to the endangered pallid sturgeon. This action effectively terminates commercial harvest of shovelnose sturgeon and shovelnose-pallid sturgeon hybrids where they commonly coexist with the pallid sturgeon.


Because shovelnose sturgeon and pallid sturgeon are difficult to differentiate in the wild and because domestic sturgeon fishing pressure has been driven by demand for sturgeon and their roe, the Fish and Wildlife Service believes that treating the shovelnose sturgeon as a threatened species will ultimately aid the conservation and recovery of pallid sturgeon. For more information, visit www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/missouririver/moriver_pallidsturgeon.htm.

The goal of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. Visit www.fws.gov.
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