Hospital Cafeteria Gives Customers a Nutritional Nudge

By Victoria Kurzweg

Spicy tuna rolls and dried cranberry salads are among the new items now on the menu at The Terrace cafeteria at CaroMont Health in Gastonia. It is also one of the few facilities to give employees and visitors a nutritional nudge with a nutrition labeling system.

The new labels, unveiled Wednesday, are color-coded green, yellow, or red to indicate nutrition value.

“Not everybody understands what a nutrition label means or knows how to read a nutrition label,” said Director of Food and Nutrition Tim McGlothin.

People may also concentrate on only one part of the label, such as calories or total fat. The new system combines those – along with saturated fat and sodium – to determine which color to assign to an item.

“Traffic light” labeling schemes have been criticized as paternalistic, especially in the United Kingdom, where they are endorsed by the government’s Food Standards Authority. But several customers at the Terrace said they would support a proposal to require them in restaurants.

“I think it’s great,” said Diane Block, a nurse at the Gaston County hospital for 20 years. “I wish all society would do that.”

Some of society – at least some of the 3,800 employees at CaroMont – are less enthusiastic about healthy eating. Block has heard at least a few of her colleagues grumbling about changes in the cafeteria, such as the replacement of fried French fries with baked ones. But she doesn’t see nutritional nudges as an intrusion into personal choice.

“It’s their perception,” said Block. “Some people are not as willing to change.”

But many are, such as the 40 to 50 employees signed up for the current session of Weight Watchers at the facility. Dietitian Nancy Smith said the program has been a success since it was first implemented several years ago. One woman lost 30 pounds in a single 17-week session.

Weight Watchers “points” are also listed on the new colored labels.

“It’s all going hand in hand,” said Smith.

With the new labels, some customers are discovering that foods they avoided before are not as “bad” as they expected.

Celene Amabile, a pharmacist at CaroMont for four and a half years, had been restricting herself to one area of the cafeteria before the new signal labeling system.

“Now I feel like it’s opened up,” she said.

Amabile chose a “yellow” item for lunch on Wednesday, fish tacos.

In addition to new offerings including sushi and a “gourmet” salad bar, product placement has also played a role in the transformation of The Terrace. The potato chip rack, for instance, has been relocated to a more remote corner and customers will have to bend down to grab a bag of the non-baked variety.

It’s a different kind of product placement than most “retail guys” are accustomed to, admitted McGlothin.

“Before I thought about the bottom line,” he said.

Ultimately, the goal is to impact the community by encouraging a healthier way of life, said Clinical Nutrition Manager Tammy Barr. Getting there will be a physical challenge – burning more calories – and a mental one, as many still believe there’s an inverse relationship between taste and nutrition.

“It’s not just one thing that’s going to change a lifestyle,” said Barr.